A New Dawn
by fatyao
Summary: In a world ruled by the cruel Akatsuki, Naruto has lost everything at the hands of the Akatsuki. Now, years later, he will fight for the freedom of the world, and take on the powerful Akatsuki. Can his revolution succeed? [AU]
1. Freedom and Death

Disclaimer – Nothing is mine. NOTHING!

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Chapter 1

Blood.

That was the only thing that the boy standing there knew. That's all he had been raised in. And that was what he was drenched in. The boy stood in an arena setting, bodies all around him, blood everywhere. It sank into his clothes and stained his skin. His hair was dyed red with the color of human life. Every single inch of his body was soaked in blood. The blood of all the dead bodies around him.

Dawn.

_Akatsuki_ was the name that every person in the world knew. It was the name that was imprinted forever on the mind of the boy. Akatsuki, the organization in control over all the elemental countries. The name that the blond boy despised from every syllable to every letter. They were the ones that supposedly "took the boy in" as they said and he should be grateful. They never gave the boy a name; they only called him a monster, a demon. He was nameless. He had only seen one of those Akatsuki, and that was the man who experimented on him, who cut him open and messed around with his body structure. He remembered everything about the man…the man dressed in a long black robe with red clouds scattered on the robe.

Red.

The color red ruled the boy's world. From the blood that he was drenched in to the red clouds of the Akatsuki cloak. The bodies surrounding the boy were all red. Everything. Even the boy seemed to glow red, his once blue eyes changing into a hue of dark red.

The arena was filled with hundreds of corpses, each with an expression of pure agony on their faces. The entire world seemed to be red for the only living soul standing in the middle of the spacious room.

A single boy. A boy no more than 6 years of age, drowned in the stench of dead bodies and the suffocating aura of horror and pain. The boy stood calmly, or as calmly as one could stand in this situation. It would take the most observant of people to see the shaking of the boy's shoulders and his hands.

This might suggest anger, or sadness, and one would expect tears to start falling from the face of the boy. But there was no such expression on the boy's face.

He was smiling.

A perpetual grin, one that had never faded from his face from the early age of 4. That's what he'd been taught, to never stop smiling and look forward to the next day. Surely the next day would be better. But the days never got better. They only worsened until the boy's smile was stuck on his face and became unremovable. There was nothing left to smile for, the next day never brought better days.

Yet the nameless boy continued to smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Freedom was a word that few minds could ever think of in this world. The world that had been ruled by Akatsuki since the fall of Konoha. It had always been that way, when the world had lost to an organization of 9 power-hungry ninja.

From the beginning of time, there had been the oppressors and the oppressed. It was a never-ending cycle, no matter how many idealists thought of ways to change it. There would never be a stop to the cycle, despite the best efforts of the people who wanted to stop it.

There would always be the oppressors and there would always be the oppressed. It was human nature itself that decided this, not the views of idealists who wanted an ideal world full of happiness and empty of hatred. Akatsuki were the oppressors, never stopping to oppress the citizens of the world beneath them.

But that would change one day.

The boy, still drenched in blood, ran. He had broken out when the guards were careless. They failed to keep a close watch on him and he took that chance to run. He ran like he never had before. He didn't know where he was running to, or why, but he just knew that he had to run or he would be brought back to _that_ place.

He knew nothing of the world outside of the underground tunnels that he lived in. He didn't know a single thing about the world, except that it was ruled by Akatsuki, the word that he had to bow down to everyday.

But he didn't think of anything at the moment. All he cared about was running, escaping from the place that was his home yet not his home at the same time.

Screams were heard through the underground tunnels. Alarms sounded and many footsteps thundered on the ground. The boy didn't care about the sounds that echoed on the wall, he only ran without stopping.

There was a collar around his neck, but he tore it off easily. He was chained at the feet, but he broke them off easily. There were people guarding the tunnels but he slaughtered them easily and without a moment's hesitation.

He didn't care what he had to do, as long as he escaped from this living hell that he was in. Everyday, for the 6 years of his short life, the boy had been spent in torture and experimentation. He didn't know why he was there, or why he was being experimented and tortured on, but he knew that he had to escape or else he would die.

Die like those many people whom he had killed. His upbringing had taught him no humanity. He was a mere animal, living by his basic instincts of suvival. He had to kill to live. That's what the snake-man had told him. Kill them and survive, or let them kill you and die.

And the boy killed them. He used the non-human powers that the experiments had given him and killed them without pity. It was his survival, and he would do anything to live. He would kill them as long as it allowed him to survive. He would do anything to survive. And that was why he could kill hundreds and still have that perpetual grin on his face.

Finally, the exit. He would finally leave this place. He would be free. He would have something that no one else had in the short reign of the Akatsuki. Freedom.

10 steps away now…

9 steps away now…

8 steps away…

7 steps away…

He remembered it all in those steps he ran. The torture, the experiments. They seemed to experiment on his stomach the most, always going on about a seal. They did things to his body; they changed his normal human biology into something else…

Into a monster.

3 steps away…

2 steps away…

1 step away…

And he took that last step into freedom. Finally, he was free. Finally, he was no longer doomed to be tortured for the rest of his life. Shining light was everywhere, bathing the area in its warm glow.

For the first time in his life, the boy took a breath of fresh air. Of real air. He would remember that moment for the rest of his life. It was his first breath of freedom.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"The boy has escaped, Orochimaru-sama." A man reported. The person he was reporting to was a pale man with long dark hair. Everything about him seemed snakelike, from his white pasty skin to his long tongue and his slitted eyes.

He was dressed in a long black cloak with a red cloud design scattered throughout the cloak. There was a single ring on his finger, with the kanji sign for "Sky"

He simply laughed in his dark evil way and spoke in a sinister formal female tone. "I see…" he killed the messenger with a swiftly thrown kunai with no hesitation. "Well then, Naruto-kun, I wonder how well you can survive in the real world?" He cackled evilly before he formed a quick handseal. He muttered to himself, as if talking to no one, while still forming the handseal.

"Leader, The Kyuubi Container has escaped…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The boy had run non-stop for 10 hours. He was tired, hungry and thirsty. His muscles were tearing and his leg felt like it was about to fall off from his body. But he didn't care. He only noticed the sights of the outside world for a moment, and did not bother to breath it all in.

No, not when there could be Akatsuki after him. He couldn't just sit there to observe the outside world of nature. He couldn't, for there was a feeling that he couldn't shake off controlling his actions. A feeling that the boy had felt nearly every day of his horrible miserable life.

Fear.

The thing that had kept him running for so long was fear. Fear of being caught again. Fear of having to be cut open and experimented on. Fear was deeply inscribed in the boy's mind and it would always remain, but it would never truly disappear.

The only thing that kept fear from overrunning his mind was a single memory. The memory that had told the boy that there was a better world outside of his never-ending hell in the snake lair.

A memory of a woman, a beautiful kind woman. He remembered her. He could remember her holding him in his arms and spoke in soothing tones. That was when he truly felt peace. That was the only good memory he had in his short life. It was the memory that had kept him going. It was that memory that had told him that there was something good in the world, some humanity, something that wasn't just the dark sides of the human race.

That memory was the last shred of humanity he had. That and him still being able to feel fear was his last shred of humanity, and separated him from a true monster.

So the boy continued to run, the fear driving him. He ran for what seemed to be all night until at last, his body gave up on him and he fell to the ground unconscious.

His ever-present grin was still on his face as he slept, but for the first time in over 2 years, the smile was no longer a fake mask. It was a genuine smile.

It was his luck that an old man, who looked similar to a monkey with white hair, found the boy, unconscious. He just seemed to stare with pity until he saw the 3 whisker marks that adorned the boy's cheeks as well as the fake grin that he still wore on his face.

"Is that…the boy?" the man asked confusedly, and picked the boy up, to bring him back to his home.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The boy woke up to smell something he hadn't smelled in several long years. Real food. The food that Akatsuki had given to the boy could hardly count as muck.

The boy just couldn't describe the wonderful feelings that ran through his body, as he smelt food that actually smelled good. He immediately jumped out of the bed he was sleeping on a moment before, and without even taking care to check out his surroundings, he followed his nose to wherever the trail of wonderful scents led.

He didn't care where it would lead, as long as he got whatever the scent was coming from. The boy found himself in a kitchen, a wonderfully furnished kitchen. The smell was coming from the stove, where an old man dressed in an apron was cooking breakfast.

The boy just stared, his perpetual grin making his face seem rather…perverted…

"May I help you with anything?" the old man asked, from his cooking. He didn't turn around to face the boy at all; he just knew he was there.

The boy seemed confused and opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. What could he say to the man?

The old man finished cooking and set the plates on the table. The boy couldn't help but open his mouth and salivate. There was food. Delicious looking food that smelled good. He had never seen such foods before.

"Well, go ahead." The old man stood back and let the young boy eat his meal. The boy dived at his food like a ravenous wolf and within 10 seconds, the entire plate was cleaned off completely. Not even a crumb of a crumb was left.

"…" The man just stayed quiet as he stared at the boy with his jaw on the ground. "You must be really hungry. Though I'm afraid you'll have to wait for lunch for more food."

The boy just nodded and looked around his surroundings for the first time. The home was small and modest, perfect for someone who wanted to live a comfortable life alone.

"Well then, what is your name boy?" the man asked politely while the boy just stared at him in confusion. He had never been given a name. They never talked to him directly, unless they wanted to torture him or called him for more experiments.

"I see…where do you come from? Do you have a family?" the man asked once more, his expression much more serious. The boy shook his head. He had no memories of a home and the word family was a mystery to him.

The old man just stayed quiet after this and the two sat in silence before the old man stood up from his seat.

"I have much work to do. Please make yourself at home. Unless you want to lend this old man a hand?" the boy stared at the old man for a while, nodded, and then stood up as well. The old man and the boy walked outside.

The man lived in a secluded area, far from any form of civilization. He grew his own food from the garden he had outside. The boy stared for a while, not knowing how to do any gardening work at all until the old man explained to him what he did.

His fake smile never faltered, and he never spoke a single word.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The boy laid in a bed, inside a guest room pondering over the day he just had. For the first time since the boy could remember, he had gone through a day without some sort of beating or "test" that the snake man gave him. The tests were in reality ways of testing if his experiments on the boy's body worked.

The day had been long and hard, but rather simple. The boy had just worked in the garden, ate, worked some more, ate, rested and then ate once more. He couldn't have known if this was a normal life. Was normal life that simple and easy?

The boy shook his head to clear it off all thoughts. The old man had tried to communicate with the boy, but he stayed silent. He couldn't trust this old man yet; he could just turn against him and send him back down to the underground tunnels again.

No, he wouldn't allow it. He would never go back to that place.

He would fight for his freedom, no matter what it took. Akatsuki had attempted to kill his humanity, but they had failed. He still had that feeling of freedom, the need for happiness. Akatsuki may have taken most of his human side and his body, but he would still retain the deep human desire for freedom.

The days passed by, and the boy continued to live with the old man, who had no problem with keeping the boy whatsoever. Though the boy refrained from speaking at all, the old man would always talk to the silent boy despite his silence.

The boy didn't do much; he just worked for the old man. The boy helped him grow the food and with the daily chores around the house away from all society, away from the rule of Akatsuki.

Life was surprisingly simple, and yet quite satisfying. The boy had never felt such simplicity and peace in his life. It wasn't interesting or fun, but at least he could live in peace without pain or fear.

The old man never gave up in his attempts to communicate with the boy. He only nodded or shook his head or gave the occasional grunt. The first time the boy spoke to the old man was when he finally accepted that the old man was no spy for Akatsuki or no one that would try to hurt him.

It was a normal morning, but a day that would be fixed in the boy's mind.

"G-g-good morning…" the boy almost whispered, his voice shaking with clear nervousness. The old man looked up from the book he was reading, and his mouth opened in shock and absolute surprise.

"Good morning." The man replied joyously, after a moment's consideration in shock. The boy stood there and said once more in his shaky tone.

"W-w-what are y-y-you r-reading?" the boy stammered out. His voice was clearly childish and high-pitched.

"Me? Why this book is about a fox trapped in a hunter's trap. So in order to escape and live, he bit off his own leg for freedom." The man said, eager to keep the conversation going with the boy.

"I see…why would he bite off his own leg to flee? Surely, he wouldn't live in the wild without a leg?" The boy asked, his voice no longer stuttering. He actually seemed genuinely interested.

The old man smiled "True, but if the fox was trapped within a cage, how would he fare any better? Wouldn't it be better to live with the illusion of freedom and die rather than live and die trapped and helpless?"

The boy just stood, fully understanding what it meant to be trapped and what it meant to be free. He himself had been so desperate to escape towards freedom.

"My name is Sarutobi." The man said, offering his hand towards the boy. The boy hesitated before reaching out and grabbing the man's hand and shaking it slowly.

"You don't have a name?" the boy shook his head no. The old man looked slightly sad at this.

"Everyone should have a name. No one should walk through life without a name, without being noticed by anyone in the world. How about…I give you a name?" The boy looked on in confusion. The old man smiled gently and said

"I've already thought of a perfect name. Uzumaki Naruto. How does it sound?"

The boy pondered over the name in his mind, saying it to himself to remember the sound of the name "Uzumaki…Naruto…" He didn't know why, but that name seemed to stick onto him, as if it was his natural name. The name just stuck on to him. And try as he might, he couldn't think of any other more fitting name.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Sounds…good." The newly named boy said. The old man smiled and said, "I thought so."

From that day forward, the always-smiling nameless boy had received his first name. That name would be a name that would go down in history. But the boy didn't know that yet, he just knew that he finally received his first name.

The nameless boy had been reborn that day as Uzumaki Naruto.

- - - - - - - -**3 Years Later** - - - - - - - -

Sarutobi relaxed in his comfortable rocking chair, reading a book. It had been 3 years since he found a certain ever-smiling blonde haired boy. Within those 3 years, Naruto and the old man lived together, farming for food and just living life.

The two had a relationship akin to grandfather and grandson or even father and son, though they were much closer than most among families.

The years that followed Naruto's escape had been kind and peaceful to the boy. Soon his memories of the hell he had lived in disappeared and was replaced by the happy memories he had with Sarutobi. Every bit of his life was simple and easy, but full of happiness and joy.

No longer was he forced to test his abilities from the experiments that the snake Akatsuki performed on him. He didn't have to kill anymore and he didn't have anything to fear besides the winter, where food was scarcer.

Strange how someone who lived his life so roughly could suddenly adapt to such an easy life. But Naruto had been bored with the ability to adapt. Most would have been broken mentally from all the hardships and be insane for the rest of his life, but Naruto had too much of a grip on life. He would never give up and he would never break, it was how he was born. Despite the way he was raised, Naruto was never broken by his tormenter's whispers. For those early years was when he would be molded to whatever he would grow into, and despite his environment, they failed to mold him to the image that they wanted of a submissive broken man who had no hopes or dreams.

They failed at that.

Naruto, now the young age of 9, had no special dreams or desires, only the desire to live peacefully with his adoptive grandfather. Work and live peacefully, that was his life and he liked it. Slowly, the grin on Naruto's face was no longer forced and faked but actually genuine.

While Sarutobi was reading, Naruto walked into the house, carrying a bag of something and his ever-present grin still there. Sarutobi looked up and greeted Naruto who greeted back.

"Yo old man, I finished."

"Good job Naruto. I'm sorry to push this on you, but do you mind going to the town and pick up some things?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Please get the things on this list." The old man handed Naruto a shopping list full of items that they needed to use.

Naruto examined the list carefully before he waved "I'll be back, old man, Bye!" he ran out the door from Sarutobi, who shouted his own farewells. It was one of Naruto's tasks to go to the nearby town to pick up some things that they required.

The old man chuckled and returned to his book. The nearest town was nearly 20 miles away, but with Naruto's speed and stamina, he would get there quite quickly. Naruto had grown into a strong young child, both physically and mentally healthy, despite the horrible torture he went through as a child.

The old man shook his fist in anger as he thought of what the boy had to go through. _Your own experiment will one day destroy you, Akatsuki._

- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -

Naruto quickly jumped from tree branch to tree branch, shinobi style. Though he knew nothing of ninja or what they did.

Naruto grinned as he thought of going into town. That was probably the best parts of his life, seeing other people and going into civilization. Sure, life with the old man was peaceful and simple; it just wasn't the same as interacting with other people. Naruto didn't know why, but the old man didn't like to go out in public.

As he thought of the many things he was going to do while in town, a certain group of people made their way towards the house he just left from. Leading the group was a man dressed in a long black cloak with red clouds on them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sarutobi was still reading his book when he felt that chakra pattern. There was only one person who had that chakra, so full of malice and hatred. There was only one person who could be that evil, that emotionless and that grotesque.

_Orochimaru!_ The old man threw his book away and immediately ran upstairs to his room where he opened a hidden door revealing a set of ninja clothes and equipment. There were several scrolls that he had written there.

This was the room he hoped he would never use or go into. Sarutobi closed his eyes for a moment before he donned the clothes and took a scroll, placing it on the main table. It was addressed to Naruto.

After a moment's pause, the old man quickly ran outside where Orochimaru and his group of men finally arrived.

"Heh…So you've been prepared for this day…" the leader said while Sarutobi just glared at him.

"It's been a while, Sarutobi-_sensei._" The pale snake-like man smirked "I finally found you." This man was one of the most dangerous people in the world. Along with 8 of his companions, this man was Akatsuki. He was also Orochimaru, one of the 3 legendary Sannin, former ninja of Konoha.

"Orochimaru." Sarutobi said darkly. Orochimaru laughed. "Is that how you treat your old student? My, I feel so unwanted. I'm sure you know why I'm here."

One of Orochimaru's men stepped forward. He was a silver haired man with a purple vest. This man was Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man.

"Is this were you have been hiding out, Sandaime Hokage-sama? It's such a shame to see such a strong ninja living like a hermit." Kabuto hinted, an annoying smirk on his face that seemed to say he was superior to all.

"It's a shame to see someone like you be nothing more than a dog to this man." Sarutobi shot back. Kabuto chuckled but did nothing else.

"Before I kill you, _sensei_, I wish to ask you. I had a little science experiment that sort of…slipped through my hands. Tell me, have you seen a demon run a round here?" Orochimaru asked, his hands reaching back to grab a kunai.

_He must mean Naruto_ "No I haven't, Orochimaru. But if I do, I'll be sure to tell him that you were looking for him before you died."

Orochimaru laughed in a high-pitched voice "Sure Sarutobi-_sensei._ Do you wish to rectify the mistakes that you made? It's too late for that. These men around me are the strongest in the Sound village. You have no chance, _sensei,_ just accept your death."

"I wasn't aware that Akatsuki would let their members go out by themselves to fulfill their vendettas."

"A vendetta? Why no, I'm here to kill the leader of that old weak resistance group." Orochimaru smirked darkly "I'm sure Akatsuki will have no problem with that."

"The resistance group was destroyed many years ago." Sarutobi said, his expression now full of hatred and disgust. To think that he had let this snake go.

"Oh? We both know that you're lying. The resistance group is still existent, though a little weak. You can't possibly hope to match against the power of Akatsuki. We have control of all ninja villages you know. Oh well, enough with the chat, _sensei._" Orochimaru got into a battle position, as well as the rest of his men. The former Hokage got into his own fighting stance.

"Let's end this now, Orochimaru! I will not let you go this time!"

"Still trying to hide your mistake, _sensei?_ Oh well, I'll end your miserable old life today."

Orochimaru and Sarutobi charged at each other, clashing against each other with their kunai. Orochimaru's men soon followed. Soon the battle was on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After shopping for the many things that the old man had asked for, Naruto strolled around town, enjoying the scenery. There were families strolling along having fun, kids playing in the streets, food stands giving off wonderful aromas.

"Naruto-oniisan!" a group of 3 children yelled out and jumped at Naruto, tackling him into the ground. Naruto had met this particular group of children on his last visit in the town. It was the first time that he interacted with people of the town other than chatting every now and then with storeowners. His ever-present grin had somehow caught the attention of most people.

"Hello…" Naruto replied back unsure of what else to say. He was never that good at talking with people.

"Naruto-niichan! How come you haven't come and played with us in so long?" one boy called out. This boy was named Udon and wore a pair of glasses with a nose that seemed to always have stuff dribbling off.

"Well, I've been busy." Naruto flatly said.

"Can you come play with us now?" a girl asked. She was named Moegi, and was a cute young little girl with her hair tied into two red pigtails. Beside her was a short blue haired girl named Kaede.

"Umm…sure I guess." Naruto replied back as he was dragged away by the group of children off to somewhere.

By the time Naruto had finished playing around and said his goodbyes, it was already sundown.

"I better hurry! The old man hates it when I'm late!" Naruto shouted and quickly ran off. It was nearly nightfall by the time he finally arrived back home. Just as he arrived he knew something was wrong.

There were no lights coming from the house. It was completely dark and the home seemed empty and soulless. The aura was very foreboding, and Naruto deep down knew something was wrong.

He quickly ran into the house, fear caught up in his throat.

He quickly ran through the house and found it empty. Naruto didn't notice the scroll on the kitchen table.

Naruto made his way outside and searched the surrounding forest, calling out the old man's name. Suddenly, he heard someone weakly call out his name and he quickly ran to the source.

Naruto found the old man lying in a meadow where a battle had clearly taken place. There were still many smoking holes and huge mounds of dirt. Naruto looked around the battlefield before finding an old man slumped against a tree, blood running down his face.

"Oji-san!" Naruto yelled and dashed towards him, kneeling down next to him inspecting his many wounds.

"N-n-Naruto-kun…" the old man sputtered and gasped.

"Oji-chan! Please don't say anything! Save your strength! You're going to make it!" Naruto yelled franticly and tore off his shirt and began bandaging the wounds.

"D-d-don't bother…I-I won't survive…Naruto…the scroll…on table…read it…and get out, away from A-Akatsuki." The old man struggled to say, and had a coughing fit. Blood came out every time he opened his mouth.

"Oji-chan! I won't let you die!" Naruto panicked and tried his best to bandage the many wounds but the old man was losing too much blood too fast.

"N-n-naruto-kun…you…are like a son to me…" Naruto's tears ran down his face as he stared into the face of the old man once more. The man, who had taken him in, took care of him, gave him a house, and taught him that there was a good side to the world too.

"P-please…please hold on…" Naruto almost whimpered as his voice cracked. The kindest man that Naruto had ever met was dying and there was nothing he could do. The man who had taken care of Naruto and gave him so much, even his name. Yet, he couldn't do anything.

Despite all of the abilities gained from the experiments, he was powerless right now. And that feeling, unable to do anything, was something that the boy had never felt and never wanted to feel again.

"Be good…my son…Naruto…" and with his last breathe, the great Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, last of the Hokages, died.

"Oji-chan…Oji-chan…wake up…please wake up…no…" Naruto pitifully whimpered to the old man, whose eyes were glazed over as the final submission to death. Naruto continued to cry to the old man until his subconscious mind finally accepted it.

He was dead.

Naruto cried and screamed his anguish into the dark night sky. Tears fell unabridged and he held his hands up in pure anguish, still covered in the old man's blond. And the boy continued to cry into the night.

When he finally finished, morning had come and the sun rose from its hiding place. Life resumed as if nothing had happened, as if no one had died. Naruto stood there, his eyes on the ground, trying to stop the feeling inside his heart.

Pain.

Not the pain that Akatsuki inflicted on him during their experiments on the boy. Not the pain from the many beatings he received. This pain was a thousand times more painful than any punishment that Akatsuki could inflict. This was the pain of losing someone precious to you right in front of your eyes.

It was the feeling of loss.

No more tears fell from Naruto's eyes. His grin had long since disappeared. The blood had stained into his hands and had turned his hands red.

Naruto slowly reached down and closed the old man's glazed eyes with his hand and picked up the body. He carried it slowly through the forest into the home that he shared with the former Hokage. After he gently laid the body down on the table, he covered it up with a sheet, in one last respect for the man.

Naruto's tears once again started flowing as he stumbled to the kitchen and saw the scroll that the old man had wanted him to read. Naruto moved a shaky hand and opened up the scroll and read everything carefully.

_Naruto, If you are reading this, than I am already dead. I am sorry to not have telling you about this, but there are many men after me, Akatsuki being one of them. I was the former Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, and I had many great enemies. My student Orochimaru has a personal vendetta against me, and he is a member of Akatsuki. I am writing this scroll because I believe he will attempt to assassinate me soon. _

_I know that you don't know why Akatsuki was so interested in you and why you were the subject of their experiments. The truth is, you are the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, the great 9-tailed demon fox bijuu. Akatsuki, prior to their dominance, collected the bijuu and stored them within a special statue for later use in wars. Back when Konoha was the greatest opposition to the Akatsuki, the Yondaime fought against all 9 members of Akatsuki and all of their armies equally._

_The reason why you have the Kyuubi contained within you is that Akatsuki, as a last desperate attack, unleashed the power of the bijuu against Konoha and her allies. The effects were horrifying. All of Konoha and their allied villages were defeated within a single instant by the tailed bijuu. The Yondaime used his last resort to stop the Kyuubi and sealed it within you, taking his own life as payment._

_The seal he used, the Seal of the Death God, was so powerful that not even Akatsuki could unseal the Kyuubi within you. That is why they took you as a baby and experimented many ways in an attempt to extract the Kyuubi and regain their weapon._

_I am sorry that I could not have saved you earlier. I'm afraid that Orochimaru, the main experimenter and my former student, attempted to use you as a test for his own sick experiments more than attempting to remove the seal._

_I also wish to confess, the reason why I was so reclusive was because I was the former leader of the Rebel Group that attempted to overthrow Akatsuki earlier in the years. We failed to do so, but there should be remnants of the Rebellion left. I hope that you can find refuge amongst the Rebels, but if not, I wish you good luck in your life._

_Naruto, know that your real mother and father truly loved you, as much as I do now. When I found you a little more than 3 years ago, I truly rejoiced that you were alive. As time went on, I considered you my son. You have made my life much more wonderful and full of happiness before my death. You have given me much joy and fulfillment. That is your gift, and yours only, one that you should spread amongst the people and give them hope. Know that Akatsuki will never be able to stop this gift. Use it and give hope to the people. _

_Thank you my son, for the joy you have given me. Live your life well and true. Always protect your precious people._

_Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage of Konoha._

_PS – Burn it all._

Naruto rolled up the scroll and put it away in his pocket, his thoughts on the new information he just digested. He lowered his head and his hair covered his eyes, as well as any expression he would have wore on his face.

After finally thinking over everything that happened, the boy stood up and tended to the tasks he knew he would have to do. He would listen to the old man's last words, and he knew what he meant by burn it all.

A few minutes later, Naruto was standing in front of a house, flames destroying the once humble home. Smoke covered the entire area and the hot flames ate the entire house up. Within moments, the house that was so painstakingly built and taken care of by the old Hokage was now nothing more than a mass of steadily burning black logs.

Naruto stood watching the scene, carrying a backpack full of clothes and food as well as a few possessions. He combed through the house carefully and packed all that he could or needed, including the many things he found in the old man's room, like all of his scrolls and letters. He hadn't read them just yet, but he was sure that the old man left important things in those scrolls.

Now, Naruto stared at the house burning, his memories along with it.

Flashback 

"Naruto-kun, you've never had ramen before? Why don't you try some now?" The old man passed Naruto a bowl of cup ramen that he just cooked up a moment ago. Naruto looked at the bowl quizzically and took a quick bite of the food.

_Within a few moments, hundreds of bowls of ramen littered the old man's house._

From that day forward, ramen became Naruto's favorite food, one that he would eat every day if he could.

Flashback 

"You don't know how to read? Oh my, that's bad…how about I teach how to read Naruto-kun?" The old man offered a book to Naruto, who opened it upside down. The old man laughed and began to speak.

"_Let's just start with your name in hiragana… the symbols for "Na" "Ru" and "To" are written like this…" _

And from what the old man had taught him, reading became one of his favorite pastimes, to get lost in a book and waste away an entire afternoon. It was Naruto's escape from a world oppressed by Akatsuki into a world full of happiness, peace and its own brand of life.

Flashback 

"_Old man, what's a shinobi?"_

"_A shinobi? Why Naruto, why would you want to know that?"_

"_I read about it in a book. What are shinobi?"_

"_Hmmm…Shinobi do jobs and missions for other people, protect people and fight."_

"_Really? My book says that shinobi are tools."_

_The old man smiled at this "Tools? Yes, shinobi are tools. People hire shinobi to do jobs and tasks. But shinobi are also human. They have feelings, family, and lives of their own. Shinobi are people who fight to protect others above their own duties. A true shinobi places the lives of others and their precious people far above their own or their mission."_

"_Ehhh…I don't get it…that's contradictory. Shinobi are tools for missions but they place lives of others above their own mission?" Naruto asked back in confusion, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the former Hokage's words._

"_Ha, I didn't expect you to understand. Being a shinobi is a way of life and the only way to understand what a shinobi is or what they do is to be a shinobi yourself."_

"_Ah I see…"_

The conversation sprung up in his mind, a conversation that would change him forever. It had always been his dream to be a shinobi after that, he respected them, idolized them, and most importantly wanted to be one.

Finally, the flames died out from the lack of fuel and a smoldering black ruin was all that was left of the home that Naruto had lived in for his 3 years. With it, his memories burned away and his last shackles to an illusion of peaceful life gone. Naruto knew Akatsuki would not let him have a peaceful life, not with their weapon inside him. They would be after him once more.

And then, he would fight once more, for that life.

Naruto cleared away the remaining rubble, which was not much. All there was left at the spot was a blackened spot of dirt. Naruto walked to a quite clearing that he and the old man often walked around. This place was the old man's favorite spot; Sarutobi would often stroll here, pondering over something or the other. A small rivulet cut across the plain; the clearing itself surrounded by trees.

It was peaceful here, and there were only the quiet sounds of nature. This was where he made the grave for Sarutobi. He had placed a small tombstone there, over a mound of dirt.

Naruto stood there, looking at the stone for a while before turning around to leave. He didn't know where he would go, maybe just wander around until he found the remnants of the rebel group that the old man mentioned.

At the edge of the clearing, he turned around to look at the small stone before turning around to leave.

_I promise, old man, that I will one day return here and give you a proper tombstone, one that would be fitting for someone as kind as you. I'll come back, father._

Without looking back, Naruto left, taking away his memories of the place where he could truly call home for the first time. He left the old memories of an old man who had took him in, saved his soul, given him a reason to live.

They stole most of his humanity, his mind, his soul, his body, and now his happiness. But he wouldn't let them take anymore. He didn't want revenge. He didn't want to just destroy them.

He would exterminate them, all of the bad memories they left behind, and all evidence of them so that the name of Akatsuki would be wiped away from the world forever. He would never let a tragedy like this happen again before his eyes. He swore it.

He would never let this happen again.

"_Old man! Why doesn't someone do anything about Akatsuki? Why don't someone fight back?" Naruto asked the old man, releasing the many thoughts that he had when he learned of how cruel Akatsuki was._

"_Ohh? Naruto, it seems like you want to be the one to do it?" the old man asked with a slight grin._

"_If no one else does! Why don't they fight back? Don't they want freedom?"_

"_Yes, Naruto, we all do. But there are those that are afraid to die. Those that are afraid to lose their lives. They want freedom and their dreams, but they don't want to sacrifice anything."_

"_How can they achieve anything without sacrificing anything?"_

"_They are weak, Naruto. That is why."_

"_Than…how do they become strong?" Naruto asked, the old man smiling as it was his favorite question._

"_They become strong by protecting those that are precious to them. They will truly become strong and fight back once they have someone precious to them in danger. That is when they become strong and fight back. And that is how you can become strong as well, Naruto, to have someone precious to you that you would protect with your life."_

"_Someone…precious to me?" Naruto looked on mystified, as he never experienced anything like that before._

"_Yes, Naruto." The old man smiled as the young blonde boy before him started to ponder it over before he jumped in the air._

"_Then I got it! I'll become strong and protect everyone from Akatsuki! I'll find my precious people and protect them with my life?" _

"_Really Naruto? Do I have your word?"_

"_You bet! That is gonna be the way of my ninja! I'll never go back on my words! Never!"_

On that day, a legend was born, the legend of Uzumaki Naruto. With the death of the Sandaime Hokage, Akatsuki created their greatest enemy, one that they forged and gave the very weapons that would aid him in their demise.

But for now, the young boy would wander the world, following wherever his heart and feet would lead him

"I'll come back, old man." Naruto started his long journey, and walked away from the place that he once called home.

A/N This is a story that I thought up while I read a typical "Akatsuki trains Naruto and they become a huge happy family! Yay! And Akatsuki is destroyed and then Naruto starts his own village etc. etc…" those stories are messed up…since when was Akatsuki the good guy? And since when was Akatsuki a close happy family with everyone living in the same compound...where there's **always** a kitchen and Kisame **always** gets picked on despite being one of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist, having the highest chakra amongst the entire Akatsuki AND has a huge ass sword. Jeez.

Well anyways, some of you might have lots of questions… Such as what those experiments on Naruto were. Well, I'll answer that in later chapters ok? Everything will be answered later.

Oh well, more action will come later. I decided to take a more different approach in writing this fic, and I made it a tad bit more serious. Lots of action will come later.

I tried my best to write this fic as well as possible, so if you have any comments or suggestions, please tell me. Or criticism and complaints, I'll accept those as well, albeit with a little less enthusaism.

So anyways, this is the first Naruto fic that I seriously consider finishing and I made an effort to write this chapter as well as possible. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. A Shinobi's Pride

_2 Years after the Death of the Sandaime…_

Within a spacious cavern completely devoid of life, nine cloaked figures stood, waiting patiently for something. The nine cloaked figures each bore the same cloak, darker than black, with many blood-red clouds scattered throughout the cloak. The ensemble also came with large conical shaped hats, with white streamers hanging from the edges,concealing each of their faces.

They were the Akatsuki, the group of 9 ninjas that controlled the entire elemental nations and were easily among the strongest men alive. Men and ninja alike feared them, and just whispering their name caused widespread panic and a single sight of the infamous black cloak with red clouds was the sight that all men dreaded and feared above all else, even the face of the Death God itself.

They were the Akatsuki, the Red Moon and the tyrants of the world.

9 ninjas, their names were legends and their power was unrivaled. Their own individual power was said to be capable of destroying an entire ninja village and all nine united together was something that no one could even fathom.

Gathered within a single spacious room in a cavern were the 9 most feared ninja alive, and perhaps one of the strongest forces in all of the elemental countries.

"The meeting will now begin." One of the cloaked figures said, his voice monotone and emotionless.

"Heh, how long has it been since all 9 of us have been gathered here like this?" a man said in a rough voice, full of malicious intent.

"About a few years, yeah." Another Akatsuki said. The others nodded slowly, agreeing with him.

"Has the Kyuubi jinchuuriki been found?" the same monotone voice that spoke first came forth once again.

"No, I can't find any traces of the boy or any clues as to where he is. But he is alive, you can be sure of that. Otherwise, we would have to delay our plans another century before the Kyuubi would reincarnate." A snakelike voice spoke this time in an venomous tone, every syllable poisonous. Arrogance, danger, and fear was inscribed in his voice, so similar to a snake.

"Hah, I would have found that boy years ago. You're just damn lazy." Another voice came and the already massive killing intent within the chamber raised another notch.

"Then perhaps, you'd like to try then." The snakelike voice shot back. The killing intent in the area was now so high that the very jaws of death seemed to clamp down on the cavern.

"Enough. We have more important matters to discuss." Another monotone voice said, even more emotionless than the man who spoke first. There was a brief moment when a pair of red eyes flashed before the darkness returned to normal. With this, the surroundings quieted down a bit, but still seemed rather dangerous.

"Have we acquired enough funds?" a new voice spoke this time.

"Soon. Money isn't that easy to get these days." Another voice replied.

"All of the preparations on my side have been made already." A large odd shaped man said in a gruff deep tone.

"Heh, like hell I'd trust that. Someone like you couldn't finish that if you had a thousand years." Immediately, the evil aura in the air elevated to a level where a fight was imminent.

"ENOUGH!" All anger was quelled immediately at the voice. "We have no time for your squabbles. We will now begin the ritual."

"Then let's start. I got to go through my daily rituals soon." Another Akatsuki said, hefting his enormous 3 bladed scythe. The others nodded reluctantly, still distrustful of each other and formed their own handseals and yelled "KAI!"

The cavern was immediately illuminated in a bright blinding light. What happened next was impossible to tell, as the light blocked off all and any view. When the light finally subsided, a single Akatsuki member, grinned and whispered

"Soon…soon we will achieve our true goal."

* * *

A single boy stood at the edge of a peaceful looking clearing in front of a large black stone. He stood, his expression unreadable and solemn, his head bowed in respect and his eyes lowered. 

"It's been two years since I've been here. I'm sorry, I haven't visited you." Uzumaki Naruto silently whispered. It had been too long since he had been here, when he buried his first precious person. Here in this clearing, the wind blew gently and the leaves rustled in the trees.

"Ojii-san, one day, I'll restore Konoha, the village that you loved and the village that I swear to protect in your name. I promise, I will not fail." Naruto whispered. Naruto stared at the tombstone for just a while longer before turning around and leaving. He didn't look back.

The wind blew hard again, and petals from the nearby trees started falling down. On the black rock, which now decorated the grave of the Sandaime Hokage, was carved the symbol for the leaf, which resembled the swirl of a hurricane. Underneath the symbol, words were carved, words that Konoha had been based on.

_When the Leaf falls,_

_The Will of Fire will awaken,_

_And we will fight to protect our loved ones, our homes, our honor and pride_

_Until we die, to protect those we hold dear to us,_

_So they may live to carry our will and memories_

_Thus the Will of Fire is passed on_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Udon had been playing with his long time friends Kaede and Moegi as usual, when he first encountered the silver haired man that stood before him, laughing evilly as he grabbed the ice cream cone that Moegi had been eating and throwing it onto the ground.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Udon yelled at the man. Moegi and Kaede both yelled things as well.

"Hey you over there! What are you doing, picking on little kids?" A nearby woman screeched and ran forward. Within moments, an enormous crowd of townsfolk surrounded the silver haired man.

"Who do you think you are, outsider?" a town elder asked the man, trying to look intimidating but failing miserably. The man laughed arrogantly, and pulled off the enormous cloak that he wore to reveal a set of black clothes under a black vest with red designs. At the sight of the uniform, the people all gasped in shock.

"Who am I?" the man grinned, " I'm Mizuki, official of the administrative department of Akatsuki." The people around him paled visibly. "In other words, I am a government official."

"If you want proof, I can show you this." Mizuki held up a badge, depicting a blood red crescent moon. People stood rooted to the spot, fear completely preventing them from moving.

It was a common reaction in the towns at seeing an Akatsuki official. The only time that Akatsuki officials ever visited towns was for inspections, which usually ended in a pile of rubble and a mound of corpses.

"W-w-what is an official of Akatsuki doing here? We payed our taxes! We payed for our lives already!" The elder sputtered out, his hands visibly shaking. Akatsuki forced its entire people to pay ridiculous taxes, for nearly everything, including their own lives. For those who couldn't pay, not only they were killed, but also their entire town was demolished and destroyed, an act carried out from Akatsuki's tax collectors and officials, who were actually all shinobi rather than government officials.

"You think that's enough?" Mizuki sneered "I don't care if you paid the damn tax or not, your little broken down piece of shit you call a town failed my inspection. So I'm afraid we'll have to demolish your little town here." The townsfolk all gasped.

"B-b-but why?" the old man asked desperately, falling down on his knees.

"Che, your little shit town deserves to be destroyed. It's only a broken down crap town, so it's not big deal. You're not making enough money for Akatsuki, so we don't need your useless town." Mizuki sneered and walked up to the elder and kicked him mercilessly.

Cries of outrage and barely restrained anger came from the people but no one dared to move, or show their anger outwardly. Mizuki gleefully laughed, gloating at this almost complete control over the people.

"You have 1 hour to get your belongings and get out of this town. You are all to gather right outside of the town gates for personal inspection from officials. Any people left in this town will be killed as we demolish the town, no exceptions." Mizuki said in a more business like tone, as he obviously had done this many times. "Be thankful that Akatsuki gives you time to leave, if I had a choice, I would have just killed you all right now."

Mizuki smirked arrogantly once more "Hurry your ass up or else you'll die along with this pitiful town." Mizuki turned around to leave.

"Wait! I won't let you destroy this town! I won't let you destroy my home!" Udon yelled, angry at the stranger who just walked into his town and just declared they were to leave the only home that he had. He charged at the man. Yells of "Stop!" and "Wait!" came from everyone, but Udon ignored them all. He didn't think that he was only a small child, not even 8 years old yet, taking on a full grown man, and an Akatsuki official at that. No, all he wanted to do, was to protect his home, in whatever little way he could.

Udon raised his fist to strike the older man before Mizuki turned around and caught his fist easily and squeezed hard. There was a loud crunching sound as Udon's hand was crushed to powder. He screamed painfully and loudly, and tears flowed from his eyes from the pain. Mizuki smirked and let go of the crumpled hand, which dropped to the floor.

"Stupid kid." Mizuki harshly called out and held the boy up by his neck, and tossed him aside like a child would a toy. Udon was tossed back toward the crowd, where he lied in a fetal position, cradling his crushed hand, tears falling from his eyes.

"Udon!" Moegi cried and ran over to his side, soon to be followed by the other townsfolk.

"Stupid kid. Attacking me, an Akatsuki official, like that. This town deserves to be destroyed." Mizuki arrogantly said and walked forward toward the boy. The crowd that had gathered at his side immediately dispersed. Akatsuki had driven fear into the corner of everyone's heart; even the most boldest of men wouldn't dare to go against any of Akatsuki's men, for they would always meet a cruel and grisly demise.

"Idiot boy. You better save that anger for later, cuz' all you and your little friends are going to sent to the camps." Mizuki said, this time with a slight quiver of fear at mentioning "the camps." Akatsuki, had long since decreed that all newborn babies would be turned over to them, inspected to make sure they were healthy, and then trained to be the perfect killers from a young age. Of course, several babies avoided being taken at birth, but even then, they would eventually be caught and sent to the training camps, where Akatsuki took all the children and trained them to be ideal shinobi, perfect emotionless killing machines who would become Akatsuki's army of shinobi, ensuring their continued power and dominance.

"Isn't that right, boy?" Mizuki sneered and picked up Udon by the collar and held him up "Now obey my commands and quiet down, brat."

Udon struggled uselessly before opening his eyes and gritting his teeth in determination "Never." He spat in Mizuki's face and punched Mizuki right on the side of the face with his one good hand.

"Y-you BRAT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Insanity gleamed in Mizuki's eyes. His face was red, shaking with anger.

"UDON!" Many people cried and immediately rushed back toward Udon, but it was useless.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD BRAT!" Mizuki roughly threw Udon to the ground and held up a kunai in his hand. "I'll make you die nice and slow, painfully."

Udon closed his eyes tightly and held his hands up in front of himself automatically, in a last-ditch attempt to defend himself. He waited for death to come, but the cold metal of the kunai never came.

There was a _cling_ sound as metal came into contact with other metal.

A stranger, one that no one recognized, blocked the kunai with his gauntlet covered right arm. He was dressed with a long black cloak over a horrendous ugly orange jumpsuit with various designs. His right arm bore a large silver gauntlet that blocked the kunai while his left arm was bare. He had spiky blonde hair, wild and untamable, with deep blue eyes.

"W-who the hell are you?" Mizuki growled angrily, as he tried to push the kunai harder. The boy didn't yield a single bit, and kept up his own hand. The two struggled to overpower each other until Mizuki finally disengaged and jumped away.

"Hey kid, are you alright?" the boy asked Udon, who gently cradled his injured hand, still sniffling. The boy kneeled downward and examined the injured hand quickly, before wrapping it gently in a bandage that he produced from nowhere.

"The fuck is your problem, kid!" Mizuki growled once more and charged at the blonde boy, who braced himself for the oncoming attack. "I'll kill you!"

Mizuki unslung his enormous windmill shuriken from his back and held it by the enormous handhold in the middle. He swung the giant shuriken wildly.

The stranger jumped back to avoid the first swing and leapt into the air, but that was what Mizuki was waiting for. As the boy was in the air, Mizuki used the force from his first swing and threw the shuriken, this time with more obvious skill and proficiency of a shinobi.

"Heh! It's over!" Mizuki shouted as the shuriken neared the boy. Just before the shuriken hit, a burst of cloud appeared and a log replaced the boy, which became impaled by the enormous shuriken.

"_Kawarimi?_" Mizuki whirled about to see the blonde stranger, who had reappeared behind him. "I see…you can use ninjutsu? Who the hell are you? A shinobi?"

"Ah, that's right; I never introduced myself." The boy indicated himself "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Remember it, cuz I'm the one who's gonna beat you up!"

Mizuki looked down and laughed quietly "Beat me up? Huh… DON'T THINK THAT HIGH OF YOURSELF, YOU SHITTY BRAT!" Mizuki roared and charged at Naruto, pulling out a kunai and gripping it tightly. Mizuki swung his kunai repeatedly in many slashes. Naruto dodged each slash with ease, jumping back with each slash.

"I'll kill you!"

One slash from the kunai came dangerously close to Naruto, but that was all he needed. Naruto immediately ducked under and pushed Mizuki's kunai wielding hand out of the way. Within an instant, Mizuki was being forced back, using his arms to block the many punches and kicks sent at him.

When Mizuki finally regained his stance, Naruto suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Mizuki with a blur and aimed a kick directly in the center of his back.

"GAH!" Mizuki spat out blood as the impact from the kick struck with an enormous amount of power. He shot away, the force of the kick amazingly powerful and enforced with chakra.

He crashed right into a tree, splintering the wood and crushing it. Naruto breathing was only slightly heavy, as he began to walk forward toward the fallen Mizuki.

"I'll give you one warning. Get out of here and never show your face here again, or I'll give you my word that you'll regret it. And I don't go back on my words." Naruto dangerously said, his voice a little more than a whisper. For the first time in a long time, Mizuki felt fear, a creepy cold feeling rushing down his spine, preventing all possible movements.

A fear that could not be broken, one that shook him to his very core and would shock his soul for an eternity. His body was frozen in place, unable to move and the sheer amount of killing intent rolling off of the boy was enough to make Mizuki shake in unrestrained fear.

Mizuki tried to bring himself up to stare in the eyes of the demon before him, but he couldn't. His own body refused to meet the eyes of the boy that was now releasing a massive killer intent. Killer intent was said to be the aura that a person would give off, depending on the murderous intent they had and the amount of kills they have made.

And right now, the thousands of people the boy had killed could felt in the very aura surrounding him.

The killing intent was directed at Mizuki directly, so as to not let the townsfolk feel its effect. Mizuki's body shook for what seemed to be an eternity before he shakily stood up, his body hardly responding to the commands his own mind gave him. Mizuki's throat closed involuntarily, and his breathing nearly stopped. Mizuki just squeaked a little and immediately turned around and ran away, running for his very life. As soon as he turned around, the effects of the killing intent disappeared and Mizuki returned to normal.

"I won't forget this, brat!" Mizuki called back, trying to save his face in the crowd of people. Right now, it was time to get some reinforcements. Mizuki sprinted as fast as he could, toward the encampment where he knew he could get the forces he needed to take down the blonde boy or it could be to get out of the boy's presence. "I'll definitely get back at that kid…. Uzumaki Naruto…I'll fucking kill him."

Back at the town, Naruto observed the quickly fading silhouette of Mizuki. After the figure had disappeared from the horizon, Naruto turned around and began to walk his own way.

"Wait!" a town elder called out "Where are you going boy? Who are you?"

Naruto turned his head around and called out "I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get some lunch. You want some?"

"OI! This isn't the time for that!" a man called out. "You just hit an official of Akatsuki! We're doomed!"

"Why the hell did you do it? Now they won't let us escape with our lives!"

"You fool! Do you think you can defeat Akatsuki? You've ruined us! We can't-" any further complaints from the people were interrupted by the blonde, who coolly lifted up a hand and feigned ignorance.

"So what? If they come, then I'll just beat them all. So, if you'll excuse me, my stomachs calling. Oh, and you might want to get a doctor, for that kid over there."

The blonde turned and went his own way, leaving behind a crowd of astonished people. A doctor quickly rushed out from the group and tended to the crying Udon, who was being comforted by Moegi.

"That brat…who the hell is he?" a similar thought ran through the minds of everyone present.

* * *

It had been about 4 hours since Mizuki's fight against Naruto. Mizuki rested on a folding chair within a ragged camp, full of old and weary tents. A fire was lit in front of him, giving off only minimal warmth. 

Seated across from the silver haired chuunin was a group of ninja, all of them wearing a similar uniform, a black vest over black clothes, with blood red designs scattered throughout.

"So you're saying this brat beat the hell out of teichou?" A rough looking man said, his anger evident in his quivering voice.

"That fucker. I'll kill him!" several shinobi voiced similar things.

"This Uzumaki Naruto…he knows ninjutsu…he performed the kawarimi with proficiency." Mizuki said sharply "He's not that much of a threat. With us against him, he'll be taken care of easily. He should be around D or C class level shinobi." Mizuki didn't mention that he had been defeated easily.

"Then let's get over to that town and kill that bastard, along with everyone else."

A roar of approval rang throughout the encampment.

"We'll show everyone that nobody stands up against us! Officials of Akatsuki's _Shugaki._ Let's go kill that brat!"

Their voices were full of bloodlust and eagerness. The sun had already set and hid its face, creating a world of shadows. A world that was the natural environment for any shinobi.

The shinobi dispersed, and dark shadows raced throughout the trees that night.

* * *

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto cheerfully called out, and split his chopsticks apart. He immediately went to work on the bowl of ramen set before him, slurping up noodles like it was the end of the world. 

"Umm… aren't you eating a little too fast?"

The bar owner looked on in fear as the blonde kid completely devoured the bowl within seconds. In fact, many bystanders just stopped their, staring at the ravenous boy before them.

Naruto finally finished and held out his bowl with a cheerful and contented grin plastered onto his face. "Seconds!"

"Uh?" the bar owner looked confused but he took the customer's order. It turned out to be quite a mistake.

Within the time frame of about 20 minutes, every drop of broth and every scrap of ramen in the entire stand had disappeared into the mouth of Naruto, and sent off to who-knows-where.

"Ah! That was good. Thanks for the meal. Got any more, ossan?"

"HELL NO! You cleaned me all out! Here's the bill!" the owner seemed shock that such a short kid could eat so much and still want more. He handed the slip of paper toward the boy.

"Hmm…. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Naruto screamed in shock as he stared at the bill before him. "That's not right! I only had one or two bowls!"

"YOU ATE EVERY BIT OF RAMEN WE HAVE!" the owner glared at the boy, astounded that he could forget that. The enormous pile of empty bowls next to the boy was proof of his gluttony.

"B-b-but, I don't have enough money…" Naruto pulled out a frog wallet and opened it, where a single lone coin fell out.

"HEY! That's not enough to buy a single bowl! Y-you!" The owner shrieked and looked ready to strangle the chuckling blonde boy sitting before him.

"I'll pay for him." Another person walked into the bar, a man with long brown hair tied into a ponytail and a long scar across his nose.

"Ah! Iruka-kun! How's it going these days, at school?" the bar owner immediately changed attitudes, and became much more pleasant.

"Fine. It's a little hard these days, especially with everyone sleeping in the middle of class."

Iruka was the sole teacher of the school in town, and was quite a well-loved man in the community. He was well known for his kindness, especially to children. No one knew about the enormous scar that cut horizontally across his face and no one asked.

Naruto cheerfully made his perpetual grin even wider and held up a hand in thanks "Thanks! I owe you one! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you to Naruto-kun. I'm Iruka, the teacher at the school here."

"Ah! Then you're Iruka-sensei! Well, thanks for paying for my meal, I owe you big time! Umm…let's see…" Naruto pondered over something in his mind while Iruka softly chuckled.

"Naruto-kun, what brings you to this town? I'm sure that I've never seen you here before." Iruka asked curiously, while accepting a cup of water from the bar owner.

"Me? I'm just here to visit an old friend I haven't seen in a while." Naruto said, his eyes closed in remembrance.

"Then…why did you attack those Akatsuki?" Iruka asked, with a more serious expression on his face. Naruto kept up his perpetual grin.

"Why wouldn't I attack them? They hurt a small kid and attacked people from this town. It's my honor and duty to fight against those who pick on the people weaker than them. After all, I promised to get rid of Akatsuki forever, and I never go back on my words." Naruto nonchalantly said, picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Iruka laughed, thinking it was a joke. After all, who could think that such a young boy would even dare to stand up against Akatsuki?

"That's a nice dream you got there, Naruto-kun. But I'm surprised, for such a young man as yourself to be able to utilize ninjutsu and defeat a man larger and older than you, let alone a shinobi of Akatsuki." Iruka said, evidently interested in the blonde.

"That man was definitely not a shinobi." Naruto said, his grin fading a little. "Shinobi aren't like that."

"Really, Naruto-kun? How would you decide that? He does work for Akatsuki, and all they hire are shinobi."

"If a tiny kitten said he was a lion, would it be true? Just because he said it, it doesn't mean he's a shinobi. A true shinobi…" Naruto looked up into the night sky, his eyes closed in remembrance "is something someone becomes when they wish to protect those precious to them."

Iruka stared at Naruto in shock "I've heard those words before. Naruto-kun, where did you learn those words?"

"An old friend. He taught me that shinobi aren't just mere tools of killing. They aren't just strong people who know ninjutsu and can throw a few punches or weapons. A shinobi is one that protects their precious people, and live with pride and honor to fight to protect people. That man can never be a shinobi, for he neither carries the spirit of a shinobi or fights to protect." Naruto said, his eyes directed away and a peaceful expression on his face, a genuine smile decorated on his face.

"Y-you…" Iruka asked astonished. He had never heard such words like this in a long time. No, the last time someone spoke of things like this…was during the time of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Naruto-kun, I haven't heard words like that in a long time. You remind me…of the former Konoha shinobi, the proudest warriors of their time."

"Oh? You know about them?"

"Yes. I was only a small boy when Akatsuki took over." Iruka's eyes slightly glazed over, his memories surfacing.

"I see." Naruto nodded sympathetically "Well then, thanks for the meal. I've gotta go now. It's getting kind of late." Naruto stood up and took his leave, disappearing into the blackness of the light.

Iruka relaxed in his seat, his eyes closed and his smile in contentment. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out something that resembled a blue headband and grasped it tightly in his hand.

_I see…so the Will of Fire and the Shinobi Spirit still lives on…_ _

* * *

_

"We're here." A figure dressed completely in black with his face covered by a traditional ninja mask whispered, his movements fluid and quiet.

"The kid has blonde hair and 3 whisker marks on each cheek. Don't underestimate him, he's obviously had shinobi training." The figures that were expertly hidden in the shadows of the bushes nodded.

"We move in, undetected and secure all strategic points in the town. All exit gates must be covered, as well as any common gather places. Don't forget about setting up traps and bombs. Let no one leave the town alive. Let's move." The shinobi acknowledged the leader's commands and jumped out of place, charging quickly but silently in the town. The leader was the silver haired Chuunin that was only here earlier today.

"I'll get my revenge, Uzumaki Naruto." Mizuki whispered evilly, and pulled out an enormous windmill shuriken that he had strapped on his back. It was folded to be shaped into a single blade. "Let's roll!"

Each shinobi of the twenty-man squad went their own separate ways, each of them keeping a distance away from each other so as to not run into each other paths. They charged, quickly and quietly to the areas that they were ordered to. They ran, shinobi-style, in a stealthy but quick fashion and went virtually undetected. Until one man happened to chance outside for a late night stroll.

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?" the man called out, as he saw the figure dressed completely in black run towards him.

The figure chose not to respond, but pulled out a few shuriken and tossed it quickly. The man fell to the ground, silenced forever.

"_All teams, we are in position. Let's let them have it._" A voice burst from the headset radio that all of the shinobi had.

"_Understood."_ A voice came from the frequency and in unison, 20 ninjas from all across the town formed a hand seal and several exploding tags that each shinobi had dropped while they sneaked in, erupted in a hailstorm of smoke and fire. Within moments, half of the entire town erupted in flame.

Screams were heard all around town, only to be muffled by thunderous roar of explosions. Carefully placed traps fired hundreds of shurikens, kunai, poison gas bombs and explosive notes at those who were unfortunate enough to step on the hidden strings located throughout town. The few that managed to reach the exit had tripped a trap that set off numerous exploding tags, destroying everyone that crossed the exit gates.

It was a massacre. People were killed left and right with no mercy. Twenty dark shadows jumped all around town, killing people left and right, be it children, men or women, they were all killed mercilessly, with their blood splattering all over the ground. Bloody kunai, swords, and fists were their weapons, stained with the blood of hundreds of innocents.

They hurled specially created bombs and threw kunai with explosive tags attached to maximize damage.

It was not yet 5 minutes in the ambush, and nearly half of the small town was demolished, and a third of its inhabitants were slaughtered. It was then, when Iruka emerged, dressed in a light green shinobi vest over a blue uniform. His hair was tied up and a Konoha forehead protector covered his forehead.

"I won't let you destroy this town, Mizuki!" Iruka roared and pulled out his kunai and immediately rushed into the fray, searching for the ninja. He tore through the scattered rubble and dashed past the bloodied corpses that littered the crowd.

Every sight of a dead body was a knife to his heart. Every burning building and spot of blood only served to fuel his rage, a rage that burned deep within him.

It was long since said that an enraged shinobi is the most dangerous one. Iruka was now a living proof of this, as his aura emanated darkness and hatred filled with unbridled fury.

"MIZUKI!" Iruka roared with hatred and charged through the ruins of his home. He was unstoppable, full of anger and fury.

"Unforgiveable…you're despicable, MIZUKI!"

As he charged recklessly, Iruka finally chanced upon one of the twenty ninjas attacking the town. With a roar, Iruka attacked him with surprising speed, his razor sharp kunai drawn in his right hand. The shinobi, surprised, blocked the attack with his own kunai.

The two clashed and struggled to gain a position of power. Iruka roared and pulled all of his own strength as well as his fury into his arms and forced the shinobi off balance. Iruka took the opening and charged forward, sending a furious barrage of punches and kicks at the shinobi, who was beaten back mercilessly.

Iruka raised his kunai bearing hand to deal the killing blow, until 2 more shinobi appeared behind him, wielding long katanas. They sliced at him while his back was exposed, but were only met by a smoke cloud and a log replacing Iruka. The two shinobi brushed the log aside, and searched for their target.

"HAAA!" Iruka sliced his kunai downward onto the two. However, they were already prepared, and turned around, swinging their swords through Iruka. They smirked, expecting blood and the horrifying sound of metal slicing deep into flesh, but only found that the Iruka they were slashing apart disappeared with a misty haze.

"A bunshin!" one of them cried out and whirled about, searching for Iruka, who appeared right where the log once laid.

"No way! That was a henge!" the shinobi managed to scream before Iruka kicked with both legs and knocked them out with ease. He was about to deliver the killing blow until he heard the metallic sound of a shuriken being thrown. He immediately jumped back and dodged the thrown shuriken.

As Iruka turned to face the attacker, he was quite surprised.

"It's been a while, Iruka-kun." Mizuki grinned and spread out the four blades of his giant windmill shuriken. Behind him, were four of his comrades, each of them heavily armed to the teeth.

"Mizuki!" Iruka snarled and braced himself.

"Why, I can't believe you were hiding out here in this town. You should have just joined Akatsuki when Konoha fell, along with me. Ah well, you did well, but what hope do you have against all 20 of us?" Mizuki chuckled and braced his weapon. "I'll give you one chance. Help us find a Uzumaki Naruto and take care of a few people here, and I'll let you walk away."

"Like hell I'd betray my home, bastard! I won't forgive you!" Iruka roared and charged forward at Mizuki.

"Well, if that's what you decide, old friend." Mizuki motioned and he and his comrades stepped forward. "I'll make sure your little town is blown to bits!"

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start from his perch on a tree, where he had been sleeping for the night with his cloak as a blanket. He yawned loudly, and ruffled his hair with his hand, still clearly tired. 

"Maa…What to do today?" Naruto shrugged and leapt off from the branch "I guess I'll go get some ramen and get back on the road…"

Naruto cheerfully whispered and strolled along the long path to town. It was nearly an hour's walk back to the town, though why Naruto had to make his camp so far was unknown, even to Naruto himself.

As he finally arrived close enough to see the town, he noticed a long pillar of smoke arising from the town. He immediately dropped his cheerful attitude and leapt forward, running as fast as he could, with amazing speed. What he found was not pleasant at all.

The entire town was in rubbles, smoke rising from the blackened stone. Corpse after corpse was stacked on top of each other, forming an enormous mound in the center of the ruins.

Everywhere was dust and ash. Scorched bodies laid in wretched positions, the horror, pain, and anguish visible on their charred faces. Leftover blood stained the ground, wherever there was a space that was not occupied with a corpse or the leftover ruins of a burned out home or building. A few survivors stood, huddled or sat down in disbelief, their souls completely lost, their eyes empty and blank. Injured and non-injured, men and women, children and seniors, all of them struck with trauma and their movements slow and zombie-like.

For Naruto, his world had come to a stop. Everywhere, he saw red. Red of the blood that covered the area. The sky that seemed to be stained red as if the heavens themselves were bleeding. The bloodied survivors, covered in their own blood or the blood of the corpses. Everything was red, just like those days in imprisonment. The shock in Naruto's mind grew and grew until he lost all control of his thoughts and could only see the horror, the torture and anguish.

For a brief moment, Naruto's irises flashed red and the surrounding aura burned bright. He did nothing, his face pointed downward and hidden by his bangs. The entire world seemed to be shimmering, shaking.

"Naruto-niichan!" A familiar voice rang out. It was Udon, his injured hand in a sling, while his eyes still bore the signs of trauma.

"Naruto-niichan!" he repeated, "Help! Iruka-sensei is in trouble!"

Naruto chose not to respond, but kept his head lowered. Udon continued, his voice frantic "He ran out of the village, and the rest of the ninja followed him! Naruto-niichan! You're a ninja right? You can do ninjutsu right? Please help him!"

Udon pleaded with tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Naruto remained perfectly still with the exception of his gauntlet-protect right hand, which he reached deep inside his trench coat pocket and pulled out a strip of black cloth. He slowly tied it around his forehead, each movement slow but fluid like flowing water.

Udon stared on, mystified, as Naruto tied the Konoha forehead protector around his forehead. Naruto slowly looked up, his face grim and set in determination. Without a word, Naruto slowly trudged out of the village, his face grim and determination set. Udon managed to yell out before he left.

"Where are you going?"

Naruto simply looked back over his shoulder, his face still full of determination " I gave him my word that if he showed his face here again, he would regret it. I never go back on my words, that's my way of the ninja." Naruto then continued on his way out of the burned village, the dawn of a new sun in front of him.

--------------------------------------------

"Heh, Iruka, I never expected you to last this long. Surely, retirement must have made you weaker?"

Mizuki stood in front of Iruka, who was beaten badly with blood leaking from his many wounds. The twenty ninjas in Mizuki's squad surrounded Iruka, all of them sporting only minor injuries. Iruka breathed heavily, and knelt down on one knee, his hand trying to stop the flow of blood from a particularly deep gash on his shoulder.

"You've led us on a long chance, bastard. But it doesn't matter, because once we kill you, we'll head back to what's left of your town and kill whoever's left, including that blonde kid." Mizuki hissed, his voice angry. Iruka, who was easily beaten by the twenty ninjas, had quickly escaped, leading the ninja squad on a wild goose chase throughout the remainder of the night, until his wounds finally succumbed and they caught up.

"Is that it? Is that what you call true strength? You wanted to protect your village but you couldn't do shit! That's the so-called true strength that you always talked about, to protect things precious to you? What a joke, you can't do shit. Why the hell do you still wear the Konoha forehead protector? That place has been destroyed long ago, fool." Mizuki spat in Iruka's face. Mizuki tore the forehead protector off of Iruka, and threw it into the ground, stomping on it with his foot.

Iruka looked up, his face beaten and bleeding. _Damn…I don't have any strength left…this is my limit. But I hope it's enough, for everyone to get away. Especially Naruto-kun._ Iruka's strength failed and his body fell even lower to the ground. _That boy, he still carries the old spirit of shinobi. He might one day…one day…destroy Akatsuki once and for all. That's why…that's why…_

Iruka fully collapsed to the ground this time, his breathing labored _Uzumaki Naruto, you have inherited the Will of Fire, the spirit of Konoha. So go and live on, and fight to protect._ Iruka's consciousness slowly faded away, his failing body no longer able to keep up. Mizuki said, "I'll give you one last chance, Iruka-kun, join us, or die."

"Never."

"THEN DIE!" Mizuki screeched and swung his folded windmill shuriken at the crumpled form of Iruka, who closed his eyes tightly and waited for his death. But the blow never came.

Iruka slowly opened his eyes and saw Naruto, blocking the enormous shuriken, with his…head? Blood leaked from Naruto's forehead and the windmill shuriken was sent backward from the impact. That was when Iruka saw what Naruto was wearing on his forehead.

_A Konoha forehead protector? I see…he truly is…a Konoha shinobi…_

"Who the hell are you? And why the hell are you wearing that outlawed forehead protector?" one of the surrounding ninjas called out. Mizuki's eyes widened at the sight of the blonde, dressed in a black cloak over orange clothes, with the pride of a shinobi.

"You tried to hurt everyone." Naruto whispered in a dangerous way. "You killed people."

"So? What the fuck is that to you?" a shinobi yelled angrily.

"Because, it is my duty to protect everyone, from Akatsuki. That's why I won't forgive you. And then…" Naruto picked up the dirtied Konoha forehead protector that was on the ground, which was similar to his except with a blue cloth. "You desecrated this forehead protector."

"So what?"

"The forehead protector that a shinobi wears…IS THE PRIDE OF A SHINOBI!" Naruto roared "It tells the world that 'I am a shinobi, someone who is willing to die for people precious to me!' and it is the pride of every shinobi, the forehead protector that shows our home, the one we would die to protect, and who we are, and why we are shinobi!"

"Heh, what the fuck does that mean, it's only a head band!" Mizuki yelled, "Now stop with your moral lectures. I'll kill you now, UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

"You can't take on all of us! We'll kill you a thousand times over!" the shinobis charged at Naruto, their fists and weapons raised.

"So what? Then I'll return that pain…a hundred times over!" Naruto formed a hand seal in the shape of a cross with both hands. "_Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

An enormous smoke cloud covered the area, and a loud noise sounded through the foggy area. The shinobis all coughed as they tried the breath the air, but only ended with fog within their lungs. Slowly but surely, the cloud of smoke lifted and whatever happened was completely visible.

"W-w-what the hell is going on?" Mizuki shouted as he gaped at the scene before him. Mizuki's comrades were also stunned, their mouths agape and their bodies as still as the night.

A countless number of Naruto's clones, each perfectly identical to the one standing next to him. All of them set in different poses with varying expressions on their faces, but all of them with varying degrees of aggressiveness, from closed fists to snarls of anger.

"Now then…" hundreds of them said.

"LET'S GO!" the rest of the enormous army of Naruto's clones roared and leapt forward, their fists bared. Mizuki and his men stood there, scared to death and could only moan and scream for their lives as they were pummeled by the army of clones.

Iruka looked on the scene in shock, his mind hardly believing the images that his eyes were sending it. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, a kinjutsu that creates actual clones made from chakra rather than creating a mass of chakra formed to make an illusion! For this kid to know such a high level forbidden technique…and to be able to create so many clones. He must have an enormous amount of chakra. This kid…who is he?_

The Akatsuki officials were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of clones, and they were beaten with thousands of punches and kicks. Soon, they were all on the ground, easily beaten and unconscious. Naruto dispersed the remainder of the clones, and they all went out with puffs of cloud.

Iruka could only gasp with shock, staring at the scene with absolute disbelief. Naruto reached down to pick up something and handed it to Iruka. It was his forehead protector.

"Here you dropped this."

Iruka glanced at the forehead protector for a moment and grabbed the forehead protector slowly, with importance in his movements. He held it for a moment before he tied it around his forehead. For a moment, the two Konoha shinobi stared at each other as equals, their forehead protectors shining brightly and proud. Iruka smiled and looked back up "Arigato, Naruto-kun. I'll be sure to keep an eye on it."

"Mmm." Naruto grunted his response "Oh, by the way, I'm sorry about your town. If you need a place to stay, I know of a place, one where Akatsuki's rule doesn't reach. Now then, let's go."

Iruka nodded and stood to leave, along with the blonde boy, as they slowly trudged back to the burned town together. As they strolled, Iruka grinned.

"I'll look forward to the day when you destroy Akatsuki."

Naruto laughed and grinned "Yeah." Iruka turned back, and looked up at the new dawn, the sun shining through the dark clouds of the empty night.

-

_That was how I met him, and from that moment, I knew that the boy was destined to do something important. He carried an air around him, a special aura that I had never felt in a long time. He was like the old Konoha shinobi, proud warriors willing to die to defend everyone._

_And from that moment, I instinctively knew that he was the person who would save us all. He was the boy who would give us a new hope, a new life, and a new dawn, from which we could start over our lives anew. He carried a hope, one that I and all others who would come to know him would come to recognize as his greatest strength. _

_He was Uzumaki Naruto, the boy, no man who would one day bring us all freedom._

A/N That was slightly longer than I expected. This chapter isn't exactly important to the storyline or anything. I just wrote it to build some character and make a nice side story. I hoped you guys liked it. I'll write some more soon, and gradually, more characters from the Naruto canon will appear. The next chapter will be a little more important to the storyline, not just a sidestory sort of thing.

I'm not too proud of this chapter, but I was preoccupied with other things, so I couldn't put all of my effort into writing this. I thought it got a little rushed especially at the end there. I'll try to devote more effort into the next chapter.

Oh and here is a glossary for Japanese terms. I don't bother to list the small things, such as honourifics. You can annoy all of that. I simply wrote it just because I think the Japanese makes the dialogue much better. Though I don't like it when there's too much of that...authors trying to show their terrible Japanese...

Shugaki – Writing in Red. I don't know if there is a figurative meaning for this word. It's a name of an Akatsuki organization that I'll explain later.

Hitai-ate – forehead protector. I'll be using this more and more, because its quicker to type.

_Kawarimi no Jutsu –_ (Body Replacement technique) a ninjutsu that a replaces a ninja with an object. Technical explanation in the episode with Kakashi's survival training episode (Episode 2? Or was it 3? Or maybe 4…or 5….) But basically, the ninja grabs an object and replaces himself at the last moment. I think.

_Henge no Jutsu_ – (Transformation technique) – the ninja's temporarily transforms into the image of another object. No clue how this works.

_Bunshin no Jutsu _– (Clone technique) creates an identical illusion of the user, which can be used for distractions.

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ – (Shadow Clone technique) creates an actual clone of the user, which is actually solid and has its own chakra system. But it's usually destroyed after being hit once. Later uses will be explained.

So, please give any suggestions/comments/criticisms and let me know how I'm doing. Please review. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time then.


	3. Land of Waves

**Chapter 3 - Land of Waves**

A young boy no older than the young age of 6 sat cradling the head of a bloodied corpse with numerous cuts and wounds covering the body. Blood leaked out from deep gashes and deep cuts. The blood had yet to coagulate, and the boy was covered in head to toe in the crimson liquid. Deep gashes were all over the body, leaving the flesh and organs exposed. In some places, skin was torn off, and the features of the body were marred beyond recognition.

The boy was crying, his tears were flowing nonstop, and the tears mixed with the blood. Sitting next to the boy was a long bloodied katana, one which had seen much death and cut down the lives of many innocent people. The katana seemed to give off an evil aura, as if it had seen too much death and violence. Staining it in deep red, was blood.

The blood of the man that it just killed.

"Father…" the young boy whimpered through his tears, his pain visible in his face, his voice, and his eyes. Through the tears, the boy whispered in dark tones, one that would make any grown man quiver with fear. "You said you'd protect us. You said you'd never die. Father, you liar. Liar. Liar. Liar."

The boy continued to whimper the word liar, and his voice contained all of his pain, his anguish, his torture. His voice was so dark, so full of pain that every word seemed to darken the life around him. The aura around the boy was dark, one that made trained shinobi collapse in fear.

The boy lifted one hand and grasped the bloodied sword that had ended his father's life. For hour upon hour, the boy sat and watched as his father was beaten, humiliated, and tortured right in front of him. For what seemed to be an eternity, screams of anguish filled the air. Every person who had heard the screams of terrible torture felt their very souls disappear as well.

The boy sat there, cradling the head of his dead father, blood soaking the boy's hands permanently. And gripped within the boy's right hand was a razor sharp katana, the weapon that had ended the life of his father. The bloodied weapon was gripped so tight, that cuts were opened on the boy's palm, staining the weapon with yet more blood. But he couldn't let go of this sword, it was his curse, the object he hated the most, yet also his blessing, the object that would fulfill his call of vengeance.

The boy could only whisper one word, a word that held all of his pain, his hatred, his vengeance and his fury, all contained within the word that the boy whispered again and again.

"Liar."

* * *

Naruto was strolling along the path without a care in the world, whistling an old tune to himself as he walked slowly. The sun shone brightly, and there was not a single cloud in the blue sky. 

"Maa…such a nice day…" Naruto lazily whispered to himself, and yawned loudly. As he stretched out his arms, he noticed something on his sleeve.

"Ara? Since when did I have this huge rip here?" Naruto examined an extremely long rip that that tore through the entire sleeve all the way to his shoulder.

"Now come to think of it…" Naruto examined the rest of his dirty clothes. His traveling cloak was ragged and patched, with threads sticking out everywhere. His orange jumpsuit was in an even worse condition, as there were large tears held poorly by duct tape. In fact, all of the original sewing had long since torn off.

It was evident that he had worn these clothes for a very, very long time. And without changing.

"Ah, I'd better get some new clothes at the next town." Naruto said to himself "I think there's a town around here somewhere…."

And so, Naruto went on his next journey: the search for new clothes.

But it was strange on how such a trivial thing would be the start of a legend. For it was no doubt that if Naruto hadn't noticed the poor state of his clothes, he would have most likely just continued on his lonely journey, and never would've accomplished what he originally set out to do.

And it was through this trivial matter did Naruto arrive at the country of Waves.

- - - - -

Through long hours of slow walking, Naruto ended up at a large bridge that connected the mainland across a strait towards a small island, which was known as the country of Waves.

At the entrance to the bridge was a group of officials, composed of low-level shinobi. As usual, everyone had to pay a toll to pass the bridge or had to have some sort of official form.

"Hey you." A bored-looking official said as he caught sight of Naruto. The shinobi official obviously had been doing this for a long time, and it showed in his lack of interest. He held up a hand "If you want to pass, show me some ID and pay the toll."

Naruto didn't say anything and continued walking.

"OI!" one of the shinobi yelled as Naruto just strolled on past as if there was no one there. One of the men jumped in front of Naruto and drew a kunai, a sadistic grin plastered on his face.

"This is your last warning kid. Get your ass back there and pay the toll, rat." The shinobi twirled the kunai in his hand like a baton and waved it menacingly around Naruto's face. The rest of the shinobi approached Naruto and surrounded him, all of them trying to look intimidating.

The boy didn't say anything; he lifted his hand slowly and held it to arm height. The shinobi immediately jumped into attacking positions, their kunai withdrawn. They expected for the boy to attack but the boy didn't do anything dangerous at all.

Naruto grinned widely from ear to ear and held up a thumbs-up sign "Boo!" Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared, his body shimmering away into a small haze.

"A bunshin!" the shinobi whirled about, searching for their elusive prey. But they searched in vain.

The real Naruto was strolling calmly on the underside of the bridge, using the old ninja trick of attaching your feet to a surface with chakra. With this, he was able to walk on walls, or in this case, upside down on a ceiling.

He quickly arrived at the end of the bridge, and leapt off the bridge, letting gravity pull him down to his normal place on the ground. After checking his surroundings carefully, Naruto was once again whistling.

"YOU…."

Naruto turned around at the sound of the growling voice. The group of shinobi had caught sight of him and was now looking dangerously furious.

"How dare you…mock us…" the apparent leader of the group growled angrily. In fact, he was so angry he struggled to get out any words.

"Hey hey, calm down a little. Take a deep breath…" Naruto calmly said.

"SHUT UP!" the shinobi charged at him and threw a punch at him. But instead of the punch coming into contact with Naruto's head, it went straight through Naruto's head.

"What the?" the shinobi managed to yell just before he experienced a huge electric shock run through his body. He fell down to the ground, unconscious, and was soon killed by a pair of well thrown shuriken. Moments later, his comrades joined him, slaughtered by a storm of shuriken.

"Wah...that was close. I thought they would raise an alarm or something and kick me out again. That's like the 5th time that's happened to me this month." Naruto said to himself, as he dropped from his hiding spot in the tree. He whistled loudly as he inspected his work.

"Well then. Let's get going. Need to buy me some new clothes." Naruto glanced back at the dead shinobi, who bled minimally as Naruto avoided throwing his shuriken at areas which would create a bloody mess.

Then once more, Naruto was on his way. That was when he felt an enormous presence. Killing intent flooded the area, and Naruto was immediately alerted. The plant life struggled to live, and leaves fell from the trees, as the overwhelming presence slowly drained away life. Naruto whirled about, searching for the source of the murderous intent. Suddenly, a deep gruff voice rang through the area.

"Ohh? What sort of jutsu was that? Quite interesting, boy."

The voice echoed through the forests around the area, and Naruto couldn't find the source. Whoever it was, he gave an enormous murderous intent, an obvious desire to do harm or kill emanated in waves. The overwhelming presence that he gave off clearly showed he was powerful, and had killed thousands of times with no regret or remorse.

Just then, Naruto saw him. He was a man with short spiky black hair, and stood tall and muscular, with lean but powerful muscle-bound limbs. His entire face was bandaged up to the bridge of his nose, leaving his small, squinting eye exposed. He wore a sleeveless dark blue shirt, with black pants, and carried an enormous zanbatou on his back, the width of the blade spanning across his entire back and the length of the blade just as long as his body. He wore a Mist forehead protector, but had a slash running horizontally through the symbol, which was how high ranking Akatsuki officials and Akatsuki members themselves wore it like.

Naruto stared at the man darkly, who stood on a branch of a nearby tree with his enormous zanbatou strapped on his back. Naruto didn't move at all, keeping his gaze on the man.

"Hey, where are you looking at?" a voice came from behind Naruto.

"Oh? Showing your back to your enemy? How brave, or rather stupid" Naruto immediately leapt forward and landed on the ground with a roll, kneeling on one knee. He took a quick glance at the tree branch to find no one was there. The man instead, was standing in the place behind where Naruto once stood.

"Hmm…finally noticed where I was. I wonder what took you so long." The deep gruff voice came back.

_Impossible! When did he move behind me?_ Naruto thought. He readied himself in a battle position, and pulled out a long dagger from a sheath in his belt. He held it in an assassin style, the blade pointed downward.

The man made no move as Naruto readied into a stance. He just stared at the boy calmly, his arms crossed over his chest. After a moment of tension, the man let out a small chuckle "My name is Momochi Zabuza. Fourth member of _Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu._"

He waited, as if giving Naruto a chance to introduce himself.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said through clenched teeth, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"Uzumaki Naruto eh? Too bad I won't remember. But it's a custom of the Seven Swordsman, to give their names to their opponents and learn their opponent's name before we kill them." Zabuza uncrossed his arm and reached behind his back to grab the hilt of the enormous zanbatou. It easily broke away from the strap and Zabuza hefted it onto his shoulder in a relaxed stance.

"Sorry, but it's too bad for you that I got hired to watch over this land. I don't have any grudge against you, but its my job. Now then…" Zabuza gave a smirk that could be seen through his bandages. His body shimmered and faded away with a blur. He reappeared right behind Naruto, who stood frozen. "Let's enjoy this shall we?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as the killing intent from Zabuza doubled. There was a whishing sound as the enormous zanbatou blade slashed through the air at Naruto.

With quick reflexes, Naruto leapt forward at the last moment, avoiding a beheading. Still, the blade slashed across his back, tearing the traveling cloak apart and leaving a wide gash on Naruto's back.

"Geh!" Naruto grunted as he rolled on the ground from his second jump.

"Heh, not bad. You avoided my strike. But I wonder…" Zabuza leapt into the air, raising his enormous sword above his head "if you can do that again!"

Naruto blocked with his gauntlet covered arm, and swung his dagger wielding hand at Zabuza. The dagger slashed across Zabuza's abdomen, and he screamed in pain before he dispersed into a ball of water.

"Damn!" Naruto muttered and looked around for his enemy. Zabuza was once again on his perch in the trees.

"Hmmm…destroyed my mizu bunshin did you now? Though I'm rather curious, what was that bunshin you used on the guards back there?" Zabuza said, clearly toying around with his prey.

Naruto's grin grew wider "Oh that? That was just a normal bunshin. But I added a little lightning element to the chakra. Since a bunshin is just a mass of chakra shaped into the user, I merely added nature manipulation to the chakra mass."

"Oho? I've never tried that. You're quite smart, brat." Zabuza seemed impressed before he once again drew his zanbatou. "But enough with the chitchat, I'm just going to kill you right now."

Zabuza leapt off his branch and dashed at Naruto with surprising speed. He swung his enormous sword with one hand, swinging at speeds an expert swordsman couldn't do with a normal sized blade.

"Kuso..Even with that sword, his speed is too fast for me to dodge." Naruto gritted his teeth and leapt backwards with an enormous jump to avoid the first strike and to disengage in close quarters combat.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" Naruto formed a handseal and 5 other Naruto's appeared next to him. They all charged forward at Zabuza with their arms raised.

"Heh." Zabuza chuckled and slaughtered the clones with ease, leaving 5 puffs of cloud.

Suddenly, through the clouds that the clones left behind, the sound of kunai thrown was heard and a kunai rushed through the air at Zabuza, who caught it with his open hand.

"Do you think such an obvious and weak attack would work on me?" Zabuza chuckled in his annoying little way. "You must be mocking me."

Naruto grinned wider. Zabuza stared intently, wondering why the boy was smiling before the kunai that he just caught suddenly burst into a smoke cloud. The kunai suddenly became Naruto, who swung a long dagger at Zabuza's head.

"Ugh!" Zabuza barely avoided the slash, and received a slight cut on his cheek. Zabuza recovered, and roared in anger as he slashed downward with his sword, destroying the clone.

"Using those 5 clones to distract me, then forming one and using a henge to disguise it as a kunai…you're better than I thought, brat." Zabuza grunted, breathing heavily. That last strike was much too close for comfort. "Looks like I underestimated you. I won't do it again."

Naruto didn't reply, choosing to keep his gaze and focus on his opponent. _I need to guess his next move_ Naruto thought, holding shuriken in his left hand in preparation for throwing while keeping a kunai in his right hand for defense and close quarters.

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu"_ Zabuza formed several handseals, and muttered a jutsu. Zabuza molded his chakra and suddenly, a heavy fog covered the area. The mist was extremely thick and heavy, preventing anyone from seeing more than a few feet in front of them. Naruto tried to find his opponent, but couldn't see anything in the thick fog.

"Damnit, what do I do now?" Naruto said to himself, maneuvering around the fog, trying to find his way out.

"Give up kid, this jutsu is Kirigakure's prize technique. With this, I could sneak up and be right behind you and you would never know. This mist is my specialty, as one of the _Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu_." Zabuza's voice echoed throughout the mist. The voice came from many directions, to prevent one from discovering the user's location by his or her voice.

"Shut up! You talk too much! I'll make you eat those words once I beat you up." Naruto yelled and started dashing through the mist, in search of his opponent.

Zabuza merely laughed, and his dark laugh echoed through the clearing. "Beat me? You're a hundred years too early to even think of that. Stop running around you fool, you'll never find me in this mist. With this, I can…"

Naruto suddenly found the edge of the enormous zanbatou at his throat, ready to behead him. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the voice of Zabuza whispered behind him.

"Kill you before you even realize that you're dead."

Naruto reacted by elbowing Zabuza in the stomach, who disappeared in a burst of water. "Mizu Bunshin!" Naruto cried out, and tried to focus his eyes to adjust to the heavy fog. "I won't be able to do anything with this mist."

There was a whistling sound in the mist. Naruto heard it, and on instinct, he ducked. Just in time, as Zabuza's huge zanbato flew past his head. It embedded into a tree outside of Naruto's sight. Before Naruto could react, Zabuza was behind him, swinging a razor sharp kunai.

With just his instincts, Naruto blocked the kunai. Before he could counterattack however, Zabuza leapt away, dodging through the thick mist.

"Good good, your reactions are good. Most shinobi would be dead by now." Zabuza laughed and then said "_Muon Satsujin no Jutsu._ With my hearing, I can determine your location by the sounds you make, from every movement to your very heartbeat. And with my stealth as a member of the former Hidden Village of Mist's ANBU and the _Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu,_ I am almost invincible in this mist. Now then, which 8 kill points should I hit you in? The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, or the heart?"

There was no sound as Zabuza was behind Naruto, his zanbato against Naruto's neck. "Die."

Zabuza sliced downward, and Naruto's neck severed, his head rolling onto the floor.

"Che, that was over fast." Zabuza hefted his zanbato over his shoulder, relaxing his stance. Zabuza was just about to release the jutsu, when 3 shurikens raced at him, forcing him to dodge.

"That was…" Zabuza whirled about and saw the supposed corpse of Naruto, which suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke. "Kage Bunshin?"

"I got you!" Naruto charged forward, his fists raised behind his head. He swung a punch at Zabuza, who deftly dodged the punch. Naruto switched arms and followed with another punch, but Zabuza caught it with ease, and he gripped Naruto's hand tight.

"Hmph."

Naruto kicked his legs off the ground and flipped over Zabuza, his gauntlet covered fist reared back. The punch connected to the back of Zabuza's head, and he was sent flying forward several feet. Naruto smirked as he saw that it was the real Zabuza, not just a clone.

"Heh…you got me…it's been a while since someone was able to land a hit on me." Zabuza slowly stood up, rubbing the spot where he got punched "that hurt brat. Looks like I underestimated you."

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu."_

The mist rose once more, as Zabuza's technique was recreated. Naruto chuckled lightly "From what you told me before, you detect me by sounds? So how would you know which one is me, if there is more than one?"

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

At least ten clones were created, all of them spread out and making as much noise as possible. It was impossible to detect the real Naruto, as he was hidden in the group of clones.

Zabuza started laughing as he saw this, his dark voice sounding over the forest "Clever. You amuse me, boy. But you have yet to see my true potential in this mist. You see, no one can match my stealth and speed in this environment."

There was a blur, and within an instant 3 clones disappeared, slashed apart. The rest of the clones all yelled in shock and kept looking around. But it was useless; Zabuza's movements couldn't be seen. In one instant, Zabuza would gash apart a clone, and the next instant before the rest of the clones even knew what happened, Zabuza would slash apart the next.

Within a few moments, all of the clones had been dispersed and exploded in clouds of smoke. The real Naruto, was standing alone, his eyes closed in deep meditation. _From the information that each of the clones sent back to me as they died, he only strikes at vital points to ensure a quick and silent kill. As he said before and from what I learned from the clones is that he only strikes at 8 instant kill points._

_The 8 points that he always aims for are the larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, and the heart. From the size of his zanbato, the speed of his movements, and the location of the vital points, the chances of him landing a fatal blow on me from my front is low, so the only guaranteed place for him to land a fatal hit is from…_

Zabuza saw the opening as Naruto stood calmly his eyes closed. Grinning, Zabuza leapt forward, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

_Behind!_

Naruto detected movement, and turned around quickly, a long sharp dagger in his hand, one that he pulled out in secret.

"Damn!" Zabuza saw the dagger, but couldn't get avoid it. He had no choice but to continue forward, and slashed downwards with his zanbato

"RAAAAAAHHH!" Naruto roared and swung the dagger with all his might, at the same time as Zabuza's zanbato swung at him.

There was the sound of flesh being cut deep, and the sound of blood on metal, dripping towards the ground.

Both shinobi were injured, Naruto with Zabuza's enormous sword digging into Naruto's shoulder bone, all the way past his chest towards his stomach, cutting off nearly all of Naruto's left side. Naruto's dagger was imbedded in Zabuza's abdomen, blood leaking over his hand. Both shinobi gasped and struggled for air, as they tried to keep conscious.

"Heh, figuring out where I'd strike from and using that to your advantage." Zabuza managed to gasp out, his voice slightly wheezing "You're good brat. I was careless."

"I was just lucky." Naruto wheezed back, and slowly pulled the dagger out. Zabuza lifted his weapon out of Naruto's wound and both stepped back, breathing hard. Naruto collapsed, barely keeping up with one knee on the ground. "Gah!" Naruto gasped and blood shot from his mouth

"Not lucky enough. Your wound is much deeper than mine, and it's most likely you won't go on much longer with that cut, though I didn't hit any vitals. In a few moments, you'll go into shock from blood loss and then eventually you'll die." Zabuza managed to stand upright. "You did well, but that's your limit. Since you're going to die anyway, I don't need to keep watch. So try not to cry out and die a shinobi's death with pride. You managed to land a hit on me and predicted my movements in the mist. It's been a while since I had fun like that."

Zabuza dispersed his jutsu, the mist slowly lifted and faded. He walked away, dragging his zanbato through the ground. His wound wasn't as serious, so he would be fine as soon as he got the chance to bandage it up. He didn't bother to look back at the dying Naruto; the fight was already over.

Unable to keep up, Naruto collapsed to the ground, his eyes slowly gazing over and his mind fading. The wound was much too deep, cutting through bone, flesh, and blood, which were now spewing out. His entire left side threatened to fall off his body.

_Damn… Is this it?_ Naruto's last thoughts came slow, and in a whisper like tone.

_**Baka, what are you doing, lying on the ground like that fool.**_ A high pitched insane tone rang out through Naruto's mind, obviously annoyed.

_You…_

_**Losing to someone like that, are you really the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi? Heh, weakling. Don't die on me now, that'll be troublesome for both of us. **_The voice in Naruto's mind continued. As it talked, red chakra surrounded Naruto's body, and his wounds closed up. Organs regenerated, blood seemingly flowed back into his body, bone was reattached and muscles and torn tendons were reconnected. Skin was bound together, stitched together with invisible thread.

_**Calling on the Kyuubi's power just for something like this. You're pitiful, you fool. If you can't beat him, then let me take control. If you get killed, I'll fucking torture your soul in hell. **_The voice in Naruto's mind whispered darkly. Naruto slowly came back to consciousness, as his body was completely healed over. The red chakra disappeared completely. _Stop it, get out of my mind!_

_**Heh,fool. I'm always watching you. Don't forget…**_ the voice slowly faded away, as Naruto was brought back from the brink of death.

_**That I'm you.**_

With that, the voice faded completely, and Naruto was able to stand upright once more. Zabuza had long since disappeared, wandering off to some place. Naruto flexed and stretch his arm, which looked like nothing had happened at all, except for the torn bloody clothes.

"Oh that reminds me! I got to get some clothes!" Naruto exclaimed and started walking away, when just moments ago he had been fighting for his life, and he had just been on the ground dying. His cheery attitude did nothing to his inner thoughts however.

_That Zabuza, he's good. Why on earth would someone as strong as him, be here at the country of Waves? What's so special here?_

* * *

Zabuza, his wound fully treated and dressed, strolled through the hallways of a building, a masked hunter-nin at his side. 

"Zabuza-sama, are you sure your wound is alright?" the nin said in a girlish voice in a worried tone, full of concern.

"Shut up. Of course I'm okay. More importantly, why the hell does he call a meeting now?" Zabuza grunted in annoyance at a passing secretary, who blanched in fear.

"I believe that someone of great importance is coming, to pick up the money that Gato's been hiding." The nin whispered. The two and their group of nins was a mercenary group that acted outside of Akatsuki's system, but was ruled by them nonetheless. Gato was an administrative official of Akatsuki in charge of Wave Country, and was a member of Akatsuki's _Shugaki._

The _Shugaki_, or Writing in Red, was a group of 49 ninjas, from High Chuunin to High Jounin Level, who had administrative powers and responsibilities, and was named after their feared letters written in red ink as dark as blood, which they sent to the mayor of villages before they would annihilate the village completely exactly one hour after the letter was opened. The Shinobi Nations were separated in 49 areas, in which each _Shugaki_ would be in charge of receiving and taking taxes from the people. Each member was considered an elite shinobi, and was responsible for Akatsuki's tax collecting. They each had their own task force, and each of them was unnecessarily cruel, as Akatsuki specifically appointed shinobi who were known to be extremely cruel and unforgiving. They were also the first defense for Akatsuki, often suppressing on any attempted revolutions. The _Shugaki_ was directly controlled by a member of Akatsuki, and only took orders from Akatsuki themselves. Gato was the only _Shugaki_ who had no shinobi training, and was only appointed due to his knack for obtaining an enormous amount of money in a short time. But he was equally if not more cruel than any member of _Shugaki._

"Oy, Zabuza, you're late!" Gato yelled. He was dressed in a dark business suit, and held a long cane in his hand. Behind him were 10 bodyguards, with blank expressions on their faces.

"Yo, Zabuza-teichou." A masked figure lazily called out. Sitted in various postures was a group of 20 shinobi that made up Zabuza's mercenary group, which he created and lead. Gato had hired them to do his various missions on Wave Country.

"Sorry for being late" Zabuza spat with contempt, his hate of Gato evident "but I had to deal with some trash that your so-called guards let past."

Gato flinched, but quickly recovered "Shut up. Let's start the meeting. As most of you know, we have a monopoly on all trade here in Wave Country. By controlling all trade in this island, we have amassed a great fortune. As you also know, this island acts as a sort of bank, and we have stored a vast amount of Akatsuki's wealth on this island, hidden deep in a vault. Tomorrow, a member of Akatsuki will personally come, and retrieve the wealth of both our hoarded money, and their own treasures."

There were collective gasps of shock from all around the room. Many of them lost their composure, even the silent bodyguards.

"An Akatsuki is coming? HERE?" a man yelled. Similar things were shouted out, all of them full of panic and fear. Even Zabuza was visibly shaken. The group murmured and whispered as Gato went on to explain things. Only one in the room had seen an Akatsuki member with his own eyes, and that man was Zabuza.

"Zabuza-sama…" the masked hunter-nin whispered and turned to look at Zabuza, full of fear. Zabuza nodded.

"Yeah Haku. Don't worry. Akatsuki isn't as bad as the rumors, well at least some of them aren't. Just don't get on their bad side." Zabuza said "Because if you do, you'll never live to see the next day."

_Zabuza's former comrade…_ Haku thought.

_I won't forgive you. I'll most likely fail and die, but if I see you once more, I'll kill you. _Zabuza thought darkly, as his killing intent increased

_Kisame…._

* * *

The Town of Waves was in ruins, its city slowly crumbling. People sat on the street blank gazes, their hopes and dreams long gone and spirits hopelessly lost in the whirlwind of confusion that was their lives. 

The city was in a poor state, buildings crumbling and falling apart. The markets was completely empty of fresh food, was only the most rotten of vegetables were left. The water was brown and muddy, but no one cared. Sickly people were everywhere, lying on the ground, their bodies decaying and falling apart. There were no doctors to treat them; they had long since fled the island.

Naruto strolled through the broken streets of the town, unrepaired and full of potholes. People glanced at him for a moment, before returning their gaze back to the ground, their souls completely blank and empty.

"Hmmm…won't find a clothes store here…" Naruto muttered, as he examined the broken down town. A group of children trudged slowly along; their faces down, and walked up to Naruto.

"Please sir, do you have any food at all?" a young boy of around 8 said. He had dark hair and wore a hat that covered down to his eyes. He dressed casually in the normal wear of a civilian, an old dirtied robe.

"Uhhmm… sorry, but I don't travel with any luggage or food." Naruto muttered his face deep full of regret.

"Oh…sorry…" the boy brushed past Naruto, and started running away. Naruto looked back at the boy and sighed before continuing his way. As Naruto placed his hands into his pocket, he noticed one thing.

"MY WALLET! GAH! THAT BRAT!" Naruto roared and immediately halted and turned 180 degrees. After catching all the stares of the people, Naruto roared "ARGH! THAT STUPID LITTLE GOOD FOR NOTHING SHORT MIDGET!"

There was a dust cloud kicked up as Naruto charged forward, cursing and screaming all the way.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a smirking boy tossed a small frog wallet up into the air and caught it again. He opened the wallet to see…

"Gah! That foreigner is poorer than me! What the hell?" the boy threw the wallet away, sighing and sitting down. The wallet never came into contact with the ground however, as Naruto had suddenly caught the wallet.

"Y-you brat…how dare you steal my wallet…I'll get you!" Naruto huffed. The boy merely laughed, shaking off the weird sight of Naruto breathing deeply.

"Hmph, you're just stupid for not being careful." The boy said offhandedly "Plus, I don't need to steal from a poor person such as you. Get out of here foreigner, if you know what's right." The boy stood up to leave, but was stopped by Naruto, who reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey now, if you think I'm going to let you leave…"

"Get your hand off me!"

The boy roughly threw Naruto's hand off, and his expression and demeanor quickly changed to one of pure anger and hatred. Naruto was quite surprised as he saw the expression of pure hate on the boy's face.

"What's your problem kid?" Naruto yelled out in frustration. The boy merely glared daggers and reached into the long grass…

"Get out of here foreigner. We don't need someone to complicate things here worst." The boy suddenly pulled out a katana, unsheathed. It was razor sharp, emitted an ominous aura, and was slightly rusty.

"Hey, what is a brat like you carrying such a weapon?" Naruto asked curiously, his eyes narrowed.

"Shut up!" the boy charged forward, holding his katana to the side with both hands. As he reached Naruto, he swung forward, cutting horizontally.

"Heh, not bad." Naruto said as he deftly dodged the many slashes that the boy sent at him. "What's your name?"

"What the hell is it to you? Just get out of here already!" the boy sent another vertical slash, which was blocked by Naruto's gauntlet. Suddenly, his speed changed drastically, and the boy continued to chop vertically again and again. The immense speed and power behind the blows was amazing, especially for someone of his age.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like leaving just yet!" Naruto roared and suddenly pushed his gauntlet covered arm forward at the same time as another slash came, and sent the sword flying through the air.

Just as Naruto thought he had won, the sword suddenly came flying back at him through the air, and Naruto was forced to jump backwards to avoid the blade.

"Then I'll make you leave!" The boy was holding a long metal chain, which was attached to the end of the katana, and he was swinging it haphazardly over his head, and guided the chain to make the sword fly at Naruto.

"Ah! You're really getting on my nerves, boy! Gah! I won't hold back anymore!" Naruto yelled, frustrated and quite annoyed. Naruto started charging forward with amazing speed, a kunai held in his hand.

"Heh." The kid flung the sword once more with surprising skill and speed. The katana flew and sliced through the air straight at Naruto. "It's over!"

Just then Naruto did something the boy did not expect. He formed a handseal and without calling the jutsu name, a shadow clone appeared in front, and took the blow of the sword. The impact caused the sword to go off balance, and prevented the boy from retracting the blade through the chain. Naruto took this chance and immediately ended up bringing the kunai right to the boy's neck.

"Do you surrender?" Naruto said dangerously, as he brought the kunai even closer. The boy merely grinned

"I'll never surrender. So if you want me to give up, just kill me now."

"Kill you? Nah, I don't intend to kill anyone at the moment. Plus, I would hate to get chased out of town again. If you don't surrender, then I'll just leave." Naruto stepped back, and turned around. He walked away, placing the kunai in his pouch. The boy suddenly grew red with anger.

"Don't fucking kid me! I don't want your mercy!" the boy suddenly reached out and grabbed his sword, and was once more charging at Naruto. "Get out of this town!"

Naruto sighed and reared his fist back and charged forward as well. Before either of them could attack the other, a thunderous voice roared through the clearing.

"INARI!"

An old man, dressed in a worker's uniform and wore a mining helmet stood at the edge of the clearing on which the boy, apparently named Inari, had been fighting with Naruto. The man seemed quite strange. He had an old weathered face and calloused hands of a hard worker. There was a bottle of sake hanging from his shoulder.

"Inari! Didn't I tell you not to start fighting with people? How dare you disobey me!" the man yelled. Inari gave an arrogant "hmph!" and turned away.

"You're not in charge of me, old man. Tell that stranger to get out of this town if he knows what's best." Inari grabbed his sword's sheath, which had been lying in the grass, and sheathed his sword with practiced ease. Inari then walked away without a word.

"I'm sorry about my grandson, Inari. He hasn't been the same since a few years back." The old man sighed and looked over Naruto. "You must be a stranger here. I'm Tazuna, the mayor of Wave Country. Come, you must be tired. My home is just a little ways from here."

Tazuna beckoned for him to follow, and Naruto silently followed him, only pausing to look back toward the fading silhouette of Inari, who was walking alone with his sheath strapped on his back.

_That kid…something isn't right about him…_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Tazuna's home was a small but comfortable house located quite a distance away from the village. It was small, only occupied by Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami, and his grandson Inari, who had disappeared since Naruto's fight with him.

Tsunami was a kind and gentle woman, quite the opposite of both her father and her son. Right now, she was serving both Tazuna and Naruto tea.

"Sorry about Inari. He likes to pick fights with outsiders. Usually scares and travelers right out of town. And it's quite rare to have a traveler here these days, with Akatsuki's rules and all. Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask your name." Tazuna casually made small talk, while calmly sipping some tea.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto politely replied. And then his demeanor changed to a confident and boastful manner. "I'm the guy who's gonna beat all of Akatsuki up!"

Tazuna stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

"Uhhh…why doesn't anyone take me seriously when I say that…" Naruto said depressed.

"Well, you're quite good at fighting if I have to say. Managed to stick up against Inari one on one. That's quite rare you know? He's as good with that sword as most shinobi are. In fact, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that Inari is our villages strongest, not counting any of the shinobi of course."

"Umm…If I may ask, About Inari-kun…" Naruto's voice trailed off, as he struggled to put his question into words.

"Oh that. Well, it's a long story, and I'm in no place to tell you. But you must know that 2 years ago, Inari wasn't like that. He was a normal boy, and quite cheerful too. But that all changed once Gato came…" Tazuna's gaze darkened and the overall atmosphere became quite depressing.

"Gato?" Naruto asked curiously, his expression confused.

"Ah. He's the _Shugaki_ that's in charge of this island. He came here about two years ago and everything changed since then. He took everything and takes all the money and profit we make. Even now, we have to pay a tax just to be able to live. And…he even…took the hero of this land from us…" Tazuna fell silent, and he shifted his eyes towards the ground.

Naruto sensed that this was a touchy subject, and chose not to pursue it any further. The two sat in silence for a while, sipping tea and pondering over their own thoughts. Finally, the silence was broken by Tsunami.

"Say, Naruto-kun, do you wish to stay the night here? There are no inns in town, since Gato took control of all of them. You can stay here as long as you wish." Tsunami politely offered, and bowed ever so slightly.

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, thank you very much. I usually sleep outdoors so this is quite a change. Well, thanks for your hospitality."

"It's no problem at all." Tsunami offered a polite smile and bowed. She took her leave "Well then, dinner is almost ready. Please take your time."

Naruto and Tazuna chatted for a while, their subjects often about Wave Country. Apparently, the bridge that Naruto had crossed earlier was constructed by Tazuna, who was a bridge builder by profession. It had no name, and remained nameless after Gato came to the Wave. Also, Gato controlled all methods of entry, from the bridge, to the ports and ships. In fact, Gato held a monopoly over the entire country and its export/import industry, which was its main economy.

When dinner was ready, the two were called in to the dining room in which a simple but quite delicious looking meal was set up.

"Sorry about this Naruto-kun, but recently, food has been sparse." Tsunami apologized.

"Ah! It's nothing! Well, it's much better than what I eat anyways. Well then, Itadakimasu!" Naruto picked up his chopsticks and prepared to eat…

"Oi! Is dinner ready?" a voice rang out. A figure walked into the dining room, walking with arms behind his head. The figure turned out to be Inari, who was still wearing his sword strapped on his back. There was a slight pause as Inari and Naruto saw each other.

"……"

"….."

"AH! IT'S YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Both Naruto and Inari yelled in unison, their fingers pointing at each other.

"Why am I here? I live here! This is my house! What the hell are you doing here stranger?" Inari said his face red and full of anger. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Come to think of it, why was he here?

"Umm..."

"Get out of here now!"

"Inari! Naruto-kun here is a guest! Be polite! And don't bring that sword in the dining room!" Tsunami harshly reprimanded. Inari merely hmphed in annoyance.

"Screw this. I'm not hungry. I'll never eat with that outsider." Inari abruptly turned around and left the house in a rush.

"Inari…." Tsunami muttered her expression worred.

"Naruto-kun, I think it's fair that I should tell you why Inari has been like this…" Tazuna said after a long time. He closed his eyes and sighed, leaving his food untouched. "It all began when Inari met his stepfather…"

-----------------

He was a hero. The hero of the country. Everyone loved him, everyone respected him, and everyone wanted to be like him.

His name was Kaiza, and he was an outsider. He came to Wave in order to find good honest work and start a new life. And that's what he did. He gained the respect of the people, and he became the town's pride, and honor.

He eventually ended up marrying the village beauty, Tsunami, and became a loyal and supporting husband, willing to do anything for his family. He became the stepdad of Inari, Tsunami's son, who had been withdrawn and lonely for most of his life.

The two were inseparable. They were like real dad and son, always with each other. Wherever Kaiza worked, Inari was certain to be found nearby. The two shared laughs and life became wonderful and seemingly would last forever.

Until that one day.

Wave Country had finally been seen as an actual country by Akatsuki, once their import and export business thrived. Akatsuki sent a _Shugaki_ to "overlook" Wave and manage it.

That was how Gato came to power. Within his first day of arrival, everything changed. With his force of shinobi, everything became his. All the buildings, the people, their hope and dreams had all vanished and became Gato's greedy desire.

Then, the country's hero acted up. He swore to protect the wave, and that's what he did. He created an uprising, a revolution to overthrow Gato. But they were hopelessly stamped down on and completely thwarted.

In the end, nothing had been accomplished, and Kaiza, the hero of the country, the pride of the people, and the town's star had been caught. He was nailed on a cross in public and was tortured for hour after hour after hour. The most painful, the most excruciating and the cruelest tortures were performed. Hour after hour, screams of pain and agony were heard.

His fingernails, torn off. Each finger, individually ripped out violently. His skin flayed to rags. His toes stabbed and his foot sawed off. His hair ripped violently from his head, his teeth pulled out one by one with a wrench. Indescribable torture, for hour after hour. Finally, it was ended with a katana, his once honorable and fulfilled life ended with a scrap of metal, heated and melted, forged and sharpened.

All in front of his people, and his son, who cried and cried. His final word was to his son.

"Inari, don't forget…I'll always…be here…to protect you…" and with that, he died, his breath finally leaving his body and his heart finally giving up and stopping its beating.

And with a sigh, the hero of the country died, and along with him were the country's dreams and hopes. Their lives had become empty, and their lives goalless. And Inari had lost all hope. With the sword that ended his father's life, he trained every day after that until his body would give up. He pushed his endurance and body to the limit, all for no purpose or reason.

The hero of the country had died, and along with it were the very souls of the people.

---------

Tazuna finished his tale and let out a deep breath that he had been holding in. Naruto, kept his gaze down, avoiding eye contact and letting the bangs on his forehead cover his brilliant blue eyes.

"I see…" Naruto stood up to make his leave, keeping his expression mutual. "Well, thanks for the meal. I feel like going out for some fresh air."

"Ah wait! Naruto-kun!" Tsunami called after him, but he had already left. Tazuna sighed and shook his head, already knowing what Naruto was going to do.

"Haaa… Naruto-kun, Inari won't budge no matter how much you try…"

Outside, Naruto jumped up to the roof, where he detected the presence of a familiar person. That said person was gazing at the night sky. The moon shone brightly and there was an uncountable bright spots of lights from the stars.

"What do you want?" Inari questioned roughly, keeping his face on the stars. Naruto took a seat next to him. Inari ignored him.

"Ahh….a nice day to stargaze…"

"Shut up. If you're here to lecture me, then don't even bother. I'm not going to change." Inari bluntly said.

"Well, let's say that you're pretty good with that sword for someone of your age. How long have you been training?" Naruto questioned.

"2 years. Every day from dawn to dusk." Inari quickly said. He leaned back on his arms, keeping his gaze intently at the sky.

"I see… well, now that I have your attention, I'll just say this. I heard from your grandpa that you're somewhat of a bully in town. Beatin up on people eh? I'm not going to lecture you on how you live your life. "

Inari looked at Naruto questioningly.

"It's your life. I'm not in a position to question it. There no single correct philosophy for life, and there's no correct pathway to live your life. It's different for us all." Naruto breathed in deeply "I just thought you might need some company."

"Che, like I would want to be around you." Inari stood to leave but Naruto spoke once more.

"Your way of life is going to be hard. And it's not just you that gets hurt. Your family, Tsunami-san and Tazuna-san, they're also getting hurt. Do you want them to be hurt?"

Inari paused, and thought his answer through carefully before truthfully answering "No, I don't. But it's their choice to get involved; I'm not forcing them to. It's already too late to change." Inari then jumped off the roof, and headed to some place in the dark.

"It's never too late to change, Inari." Naruto returned his gaze at the sky.

It was the next morning after Naruto had arrived in Wave Country and was greeted hostilely twice. Naruto was already convinced that the entire town was bound to be hostile against him.

He was out in town, just walking along the road. Everywhere, people gave him weird stares and glances, as they saw his strange appearance, made worse by the ripped up clothes he wore.

"Maa…I'll never find a new set of clothes here…" Naruto looked around at the stores, which had very little to sell. Suddenly, the sounds of yells and screams were heard. Curses and loud screams came from an alleyway, and Naruto was set on investigating.

What he saw was quite surprising. Inari, holding his sword in a reversed grip, fighting a gang of people, ranging from small children to young adults, with the flat backside of the katana.

"I'll get you, Inari!" several members of the crowd leapt forward at Inari. Inari, calmly, swung his blade, making sure to use the back side of the katana. He swiftly dodged punches and kicks, and countered quickly with his sword. He jumped over low kicks, flipped over the shoulders of people, and ducked under their attacks, striking at every opening he could get.

With amazing speed and swiftness, Inari had beaten up the entire crowd of people.

"Wow, that was amazing!" there was a sound of clapping and Inari turned to see Naruto clapping and smiling. "You're real good! What was that about?"

Inari grunted and said "Those bastards just didn't like me. People in this town don't like me, and every time I come here, they always want to pick a fight with me. It's annoying, really." Inari started to walk out of the alley, and Naruto slowly followed him.

"Really? Maybe you should be less mean. People would like you much better." Naruto said, his ever-present grin shining brightly. Inari stayed quiet and Naruto followed him silently.

Eventually, the unlikely pair ended up outside of the town, in a nearby forest. That was when Inari finally burst out in anger.

"ARGH! Why the hell are you following me? Just leave me alone and get out of here!" Inari yelled.

"Me? Following you?" Naruto laughed in a fake cheery manner. "Oh no no no, we just have the same destination."

"AND HOW DO YOU KNOW MY DESTINATION?" Inari yelled. Inari began yelling angrily, while Naruto cheerfully answered with his toothy grin.

"Jeez, you annoy me. Why don't you just get out of Wave already?" Inari huffed, tired of yelling at Naruto.

"I dunno, guess I don't feel like walking right now." Naruto placed his arms behind his head and started whistling. Inari glared at him and was prepared to pull his sword out, until he heard several voices in the vicinity.

"Gato!" Inari whispered, and placed his hand on the grip of his sword. Naruto stopped his whistling and lay down on his stomach.

"So that's Gato?" Naruto looked at the man, who was being followed by a group of shinobi and bodyguards. Gato was a round man and was quite overweight. He had curly brown hair and wore a pair of black sunglasses over his smug face. He wore a dark pinstriped business suit with a purple tie, and carried a cane with him. He looked like the traditional image of a business man, or a mob leader. He carried an air of arrogance around him, as if he just screamed to say "I'm better than all of you!"

"Yeah. That's him." Inari grimaced, his face barely restraining the emotions underneath. His hand shook with anger, and his face grew red. "But why is he out here?"

"Huh?"

"Gato never usually comes out. He likes to stay inside his headquarters all day, which is why I haven't found a chance to kill him." Inari said nonchalantly. Naruto stared at Inari in shock.

"Kill him? Isn't he a _Shugaki?_ You want to go against Akatsuki?"

"I don't fucking care who he is. That bastard is going to pay for everything. I'll tear him apart just like he did to father." Inari began to grip his sword hard, almost to the point where his knuckles crack. "I'll get him!"

Without warning, Inari leapt forward from the cover of the bushes that he had been spying in. Naruto could only stare in surprise, his mouth agape. He chose not to join Inari, but instead observe whatever he was doing.

"Gato…" Inari whispered dangerously, as he stood in front of the group, his sword securely placed in his belt.

"Hmph. Who the hell are you brat? Get out of our way." Gato said.

"So, you finally decided to crawl out of your hole and come out into the open huh?" Inari said.

"Crawl out of my hole? No, I just don't want your dirty old town make my shoes dusty." Gato mocked "My shoes cost more than how much money is in your town right now."

"2 years ago. Do you remember me, Gato?" Inari asked darkly. "Do you remember what I told you on that day?"

"That day? I'm sorry; I don't listen to the words of useless trash like you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll need to get going."

"Don't remember?" Inari looked up. He was smiling in an insane and dangerous way, and he looked murderous and crazy.

"I said, get out of my way, brat. Don't make me repeat myself." Gatou raised his hand, and his men all pulled out weapons.

"Do you remember when you executed the hero of the town, the one that you spat on and mocked? Do you remember when you killed my father? Or do you also remember the little boy that took his corpse? Or perhaps this might stir your memory; the words I told you myself."

He slowly pulled out his katana from its sheath, and the sound of metal scraping against other metal was heard. The katana, fully withdrawn, exhibited a red aura, full of the desire to kill, and the thirst for blood. The boy himself had suddenly changed into a demon, his eyes dark as the night, and his sword as red as blood.

"I swear, on the blood of my father, to kill you." Inari's raised his sword above his head, and laughed in an insane manner. The shinobi around Gato, flinched at the sight of a boy with crazed eyes, biting down on his own lip so hard that blood leaked out. The sight of the bloodthirsty sword, the crazed boy was chilling to the bone.

"LET'S BOTH GO TO HELL, GATO!" Inari charged forward, and soon the battle was on.

TBC

**A/N** Wow, I wrote a bit too much. Originally, I hoped to get the whole Wave arc in one chapter, but it looks like I'll have to use two…. I think the pacing of my story is a bit slow…

Oh, and in case you didn't know, this is an AU (aren't all fics AU?) so characters are bound to be OOC. Especially Inari here. He kinda looks and sounds like a badass right? Well, I think he's much better as some guy who wants revenge than some sniffling weakling.

Oh, that voice in Naruto's head was NOT the Kyuubi, but something else…to be explained in later chapters.

Next chapter, Zabuza and Naruto faces off, and Inari tries to get his revenge. And the first appearance of an Akatsuki!

If you have any questions, feel free to review/PM me. Oh and please please review? If you like the story of course. If not, then you can flame me all you want. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.

**Glossary of Terms and Jutsu Names**

Shinobi – Ninja

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique- Creates an actual replica of the user

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone technique – creates a clone/illusion of the user.

Kirigakure no Jutsu – Hidden Mist Technique – Creates a mist in which the fog reduces all visibility.

Muon Satsujin no Jutsu – Silent Kill Technique – Zabuza's ability to kill a opponent without them noticing his presence.

Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu – The Seven Swordsman of the Mist – an elite group of swordsmen created in the Mist Village.

Oh, and by the way, I choose not to take the generic battle route of using hundreds of crazy, insanely powerful, and much messed up jutsus. For one thing, each jutsu thinkable has been made in some fanfiction or the other. Though there will be some cool jutsus, I'll be sure to properly explain it, rather than have some super ability that's not conceivable, even in the Naruto world…. I'll attempt to do combat scenes in a more realistic-Naruto style, with mostly strategies as the key element, rather than powerful jutsu. That is how the canon Naruto story handles most battles anyway…

Oh and those 8 kill point thing was a quote from Zabuza in the canon Naruto. Just thought it would be cool.


	4. The Demon Falls

"_LET'S GO THE HELL TOGETHER, GATO!"_

Inari's roar echoed through the island. His thirst for blood and his excited rage flowed through the air. People from all around the island quivered and shook in fear at the immense evil aura surging through the entire Land of Waves. Gato could only stare with his mouth hanging open, his eyes shaking in fear.

"For two years, I sought to kill you. For two years, I pushed my body, ruined my soul, just to get a chance to kill you!" Inari laughed insanely; as if demons had possessed him "I don't care if vengeance brings me nothing in the end. I don't care if revenge ruins my life, my body, my future and my soul! I don't care at all! All that matters is right now! To see you quivering in fear when you were once so excitingly killing my father! And to see your blood on my sword!"

"What are you, a demon?" Gato stuttered. His men were cowering by the overwhelming presence that Inari was giving off, and they were slowly backing off. Gato himself was a little shaken, slowly edging away from the crazed boy.

"I've lived for this very moment, Gato! To see your anguish, your fear! I don't care what happens next, or what others say about revenge! I will never be able to experience this again; I'll never be able to get this strong or desire to kill this much ever again." Inari said, laughing in his maniac way.

Without warning, Inari leapt forward, still laughing insanely. His sword was raised high above his head, and his crazy grin never faded away. The first bodyguard stepped forward, trying to stop Inari.

Instead of stopping, Inari just went through him. His first attack was a devastating vertical slash, and cut the unfortunate bodyguard in half down through the middle. Without giving so much as a glance, he brushed the two halves of the bodies aside.

"What are you standing around for? Get him!" Gato screamed at his men. He pushed a few more bodyguards ahead, and they hesitantly pulled out their weapons.

"Hah! I guess I have to kill all of your lackeys before I get to you, Gato! This is going to be fun!" Inari easily cut apart all the men and continued on his charge at Gato without stopping once. However, Gato didn't just have hired thugs as his bodyguards.

"Get him!"

Suddenly, from the trees, two blurred figures jumped forward. The figures were shinobi, dressed in dark clothes covering up to their eyes. They both wore the forehead protectors of the Mist, with the slash running through the design as the sign of a nukenin.

These two shinobi were the Demon Brothers, one of the best shinobi of Zabuza's squad. A long chain was connected between them at each other's wrist guards with long spikes hanging from it, forming a bridge of death between them.

The two shot forward and the one brother on the right pulled out and flung another long length of spiked chain right at Inari in a whip like motion. Inari dodged backwards and avoided the chains. The two dashed at him, the chain rattling between them.

Inari jumped high in the air, over the chain. The two shinobi jumped up as well, hoping to catch him while he was open in the air. As the chains closed on him, Inari flipped over in the air, swinging his sword as his body spun.

The unexpected maneuver caught the Demon Brother's unawares, and cut into the chain. The force of the blow caused the chain to fall out of their hands. Without a weapon, the brothers simply fell back to the earth. Inari landed back on the ground lightly, his sword held at his side.

Two pairs of chains shot out, as the brothers pulled out even more spike chains and flailed it at him. Inari was forced to avoid it again. Every time Inari tried to run in closer to engage in close combat, the chains would shoot out and Inari was once again forced to jump back.

Inari started circling the pair as another spiked chain had stuck in the ground he was just standing on. As he was circling, he tried to formulate a strategy. Blocking was out of the question, as the chains would tear away his weapon out of his hands in an instant. He couldn't run in to fight; his range was much lower and much more constricted. And continuously dodging attacks would not help. Therefore he had only one course of action if he wanted to go on the offensive.

He would have to incapacitate them both at once.

Inari dodged once more, carefully looking for the opening that he would need in order to win this battle. With surprising alacrity, Inari jumped all around the place, continuously waiting for the perfect chance.

Suddenly, both brothers hurled their weapons once more, and the two long chains approached at Inari.

_An opening!_ Inari grabbed his sword, and raised it high above his head. Time slowed to a blur as the chains flew at him. His life was on the line, and if he messed up, he wouldn't get another chance. The chains were just about to wrap around him and tear him to shreds when Inari finally went into motion.

With the speed and accuracy only an expert swordsman could master, Inari stabbed the blade toward the ground. His timing was perfect, and he was accurate to the width of a hair. At the spot where both chains overlapped each other, Inari stabbed down, and pinned the two chains down to the ground.

His plan succeeded, and for a single moment, both brothers were incapacitated, not expecting the boy to do such a risky thing. They stumbled forward as their motion continued. This was all Inari needed.

He leapt on the chain, pinning it down with his body weight. He reached behind and pulled his sword out from the ground. He started dashing forward on the chain, his sword behind him. He ran forward with as much speed as he could, quickly gaining on the brothers.

When Inari finally reached the pair, he leapt over their heads, and flipped around. Caught with their backs exposed, they had no chance when Inari sliced the both of them with a single slash. A fountain of blood spewed out from their wounds and the two collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

"N-no way…" Gato slowly backed up, his face fearful. He was shaking all over, and was almost on the verge of tears. The few men he had left were also in fearful states as Inari slowly turned on him, his sword dripping blood. "W-what are you doing? Stop him!"

Gato yelled and pushed the two nearest men next to him towards Inari. Gato then started fleeing for his life. His men that he left could only stand in horror as Inari cut down the two bodyguards.

Inari was unstoppable. He was a demon, reveling in the blood of the enemies he killed, reveling in the pain, the horror, and the death surrounding him. He was laughing crazily, insanity ruling over his mind. He could not be stopped at that moment. Any men that approached him were cut down and sliced to pieces. Within moments, all of Gato's guards had been decimated and cut to shreds, their bodies torn apart and their weapons cut in two. Their organs were splattered all over the place, and their blood leaked out onto the earth.

Finally, all the bodies had dropped, and Inari stood alone, his sword dripping the blood of the enemies he just slain. Without bothering to clean up himself or the area or wiping his sword, he silently took off running after Gato.

* * *

Gato crashed through the shrubbery, breathing deeply as he struggled to catch his breath. He had been living so lazily and extravagantly, his body was weak and unable to hold on the strain of continuous running.

As Gato paused for a moment to catch his breath, he carefully looked around. He was scared that the insane kid was following him. Once he checked if the coast was clear, Gato collapsed to the ground in utter exhaustion.

"That boy…I remember him…" Gato whispered as he recalled his memories. He remembered that day, when a single child had walked up to a corpse of one of his many victims. He remembered the boy, without hesitation had picked up the sword that had slain the man.

He remembered the boy holding out the sword at Gato, his eyes darkened into the black pools of hell, his face as cold and emotionless as the void. He remembered the raspy words that the boy had said to Gato as Gato was leaving the execution site.

"I'll definitely kill you."

At that time, Gato ignored the warning as he received threats daily. But now…

"DAMN!" Gato yelled and stood up "And on the day Akatsuki comes! That fucking brat! He'll pay!" Gato started running once more, toward the bridge where he knew reinforcements were. After a few minutes of running, Gato finally arrived at the bridge which was covered in a thick mist and empty with the exception of two shinobi.

"What the hell are you two doing? Get back there and kill the kid!" Gato frantically called and dashed forward. Zabuza merely looked at Gato strangely, while Haku ignored him.

"Who are you talking about?" Zabuza asked, not looking worried at all.

"That kid! Him from 2 years ago! Tried to kill me!" Gato gasped out, tired from the short run. Zabuza and Haku exchanged glances before bursting out in laughter.

"Heh, someone trying to kill you now? What a surprise." Zabuza laughed "So do you want me to spank the kid or put him in time out? Hah, its pitiful how Akatsuki's famed _Shugaki_ have fallen to running away from little children."

Haku stayed silent, just staring at Gato with disgust and annoyance. Gato glared at the both of them and yelled more "Shut up! That bastard is no joke! He took out all of my guards and your little demon brothers pair!"

As if on cue, a thunderous roar rang out through the misty bridge, a voice that was full of malicious intent and evil but still held the pitch of the innocence of a child.

"GATO! COME AND FACE ME!"

Zabuza shrugged and hefted his zanbato. Haku stayed in his silent way, and pulled out a few senbon needles.

"Heh, guess I got no choice. If he's good enough to beat the demon brothers… " Zabuza started walking toward the source of the yell and Haku quickly followed him. They paused at the gate of the bridge, while Gato quickly ran behind them like a scared child running to their mother.

Inari quickly emerged from the trees, carrying his bloodied katana behind him. Zabuza examined the boy carefully, sizing him up. He took a glance at the sword and whistled loudly.

"Amazing, a kid of your age to kill so much. Judging from the amount of blood, you'd have to kill at least 20 people to get that much." Zabuza laughed and licked his lips in anticipation of a good fight. He looked nostalgically at the boy "That brings back memories."

Inari ignored his talk and charged forward "Shut up with your talk and let's fight!"

"Eager to die, aren't you?" Zabuza charged as well, and swung his enormous sword down and clashed with Inari's blade. "You're nowhere near my level."

The two struggled and pushed on their handles, attempting to overbalance the other. Zabuza hardly strained at all, putting little pressure while Inari put all of his strength into pushing Zabuza back, but that was only enough to keep his own feet on the ground. And Zabuza was only using one hand.

"Hmph. Not bad, for your age. But you should get out of here now. I'm afraid I can't let you kill my employer before I get my paycheck." Zabuza suddenly shifted his foot and gave a might shove. Inari lost his balance and began stumbling backwards. He regained his balance and returned to his stance once more while Zabuza looked on amused.

"Hmmm…this won't be much of a workout."

Zabuza walked forward. Inari swung his sword once more, but Zabuza sidestepped it. Inari brought his sword back and slashed at Zabuza. But his opponent was one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, and normal sword attacks were useless against such a master swordsman.

Zabuza grabbed the blade and stopped it with two fingers on the flat side, without the sharp edge coming into contact with his skin. With a flick of his wrist, Zabuza sent the sword flying into the air. Zabuza smirked at his victory and prepared to kill the kid with a simple twist of the neck before suddenly, the sword flew back at him.

Zabuza took a might leap backward and landed on one knee, using one hand to support himself and the other to keep his zanbato on his back. Inari was swinging the sword by the chain attached to the grip like a flail.

"Huh, not bad. That surprised me. You must have added some nice things to that sword of yours." Zabuza stood back up. With lightning speed, Zabuza was next to Inari in a flash, swinging downward. Inari brought his sword up to block, and the two blades clashed. A normal blade against enormous zanbato. Inari's feet dug into the ground and he gritted his teeth as his body strained. Zabuza, however, was hardly trying. He lifted his other hand and placed it on his sword, and shoved forward and sent Inari to the ground painfully.

"Damnit…He keeps on overpowering me." Inari muttered as he attempted to get off the ground. Without warning, a black blur raced forward and Haku knocked Inari out with a swift punch to the face.

"Shall I finish it, Zabuza-sama? Someone as weak as this does not deserve to die by Zabuza's hands." Haku asked, keeping his eyes focused on Inari. He was feminine, with the face of a woman and long black hair. His voice was like a girl's and he could have passed off as any woman.

"Do whatever you like." Zabuza turned away and sheathed his sword. Gato stopped cowering and stared at them for a while before finally regaining courage.

"Hahaha! Kill me boy? Don't fucking kid me!" Gato started kicking Inari's limp body, laughing with glee. "You'll never do anything! You're nothing! Nothing!" Gato cowardly took his revenge, kicking at the unconscious Inari. Haku and Zabuza stared angrily at Gato, their fists shaking in rage.

"Fucking boy! It doesn't matter how strong you are, as long as I have riches, I'll always win!" Gato's foot shot out once more but was stopped.

Inari was now fully awake and grabbed Gato's foot. Inari was grinning as he said "It doesn't matter if I die, cuz I'll come back and kill you either way. Your riches won't stop me, Gato! I'll take that fucking leg off!" Inari grabbed his sword and sliced clean through Gato's shin, bone and all.

Gato's foot and a few inches of his leg severed and fell on the ground, blood spilling out. The stump that was left of Gato's left leg was a mass of tangled muscle, tendon, and blood. His bone stuck out, cut so then that it was sharp enough to cut like a knife. Blood jetted out, shooting forward in endless streams of red.

"AARRRRGGGHHHH!" Gato cried in agony and fell to the ground. He rolled around, screaming at the top of his lungs in order to attempt to divert his mind's attention away from the pain. His hands, shaking, tried to cradle his leg, but that only caused more pain. Shattered nerves shot out feelings of pain and Gato shook franticly.

Zabuza and Haku didn't seem concerned; on the contrary they seemed quite pleased. Gato cried out for a full minute, moaning and rolling around. Blood continuously leaked out from the stump that was now Gato's leg.

"D-d-d-d-d-damn you!" Gato's body convulsed and his voice, shaky and cracked, was now a squeal, high pitched and spelled out his shock. He turned to face Zabuza, his expression of pure agony. He pleaded with his eyes, his thoughts frantic. Pitifully, he begged like a dog, and forgot all about dignity or his high rank. All that mattered was his life, which he pitifully clinged on to.

"Help me! Help me! Help!"

Zabuza stared in contempt and disgust before sighing. He walked over to Gato and pulled out a roll of bandages.

Zabuza began roughly bandaging the wounds, and did not leave room for gentleness. Gato began moaning and screaming louder as Zabuza tightened the bandages and wrapped it around the wound. "Hmph, I'd prefer to see you in pain, but if you die now, it'll be troublesome for me if I don't get my pay for all this work."

Inari lay watching the scene with a sick glee, enjoying the sight of Gato in pain. Zabuza took note of this with interest and strode over to the boy. Gato started pitifully crawling away.

"Hmmm…you're quite brave, boy. Reminds me of myself. Sorry, but I have to kill you now." Zabuza raised his sword, ready to give off the finishing blow. Inari didn't react at all; he just kept his insane grin. He didn't care if he was going to die. No, after all he had nothing to live for. Zabuza added "Don't hate me for it."

Inari laughed out loud and spoke in raspy tones.

"You don't fear death? You don't regret life?" Zabuza asked mystified. Haku looked on the scene with a strange empathy, his eyes intent on the boy.

"I don't fear death, I welcome it. I don't live with regrets, and I don't regret not living the rest of my life. I've already lost my will to live 2 years ago, and it doesn't matter what life I lead, it'll all end the same in death. That's why I don't feel like living a peaceful life, just living and existing." Inari said. Zabuza stayed silent, as if to allow Inari his last words. "There is no better way to enjoy life than to end it in my case. There is no better joy in the world then fighting and killing. There is no better home for mankind than on the battlefield, because that is what where the true side of humanity shows. It's the best way to enjoy life, to kill and be killed."

Zabuza chuckled softly "Your views on life are quite interesting for someone of your age. You'd have made a good shinobi. Living only to fight huh? Living only for the joy of killing and the joy of battle? Hah, that's the most interesting thing I've heard in a while. You sure are a natural born warrior."

Zabuza laughed out loud once more, his deep and disturbed laugh echoing through the forest. "Well, I'll grant your wish and kill you now."

Zabuza raised his sword and then swung it down. The blade flashed through the air, surely bringing a swift death in its path. Inari grinned once more, and closed his eyes, waiting for death to come.

There was a _clang _sound of metal on metal. A slight drop of blood fell to the ground. The _plop_ sound repeated every second as blood dripped repeatedly on the ground.

Inari opened his eyes to see the shocked face of Zabuza, his eyes wide in surprise. Haku was gawking speechlessly. There in front of him, was a figure, blocking the enormous zanbato with a silver gauntlet. Blood leaked out from the cracks of the gauntlet, as the enormous pressure from the zanbato opened a wound.

There in front of him, stood the figure of Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

_That brat! How? How? How is he standing there in front of me? No way…can't he be there. I killed him! I know it! I saw him fall to the ground. I saw his wound. He should be dead! But why is he here, in front of me. This can't be…impossible!_

Zabuza's thoughts raced in his mind as he saw the face of the boy that he thought he had killed. His blue eyes were keen and shone as brightly as ever, not with the glazed look of death. His body was completely alright, with no scars whatsoever. There was no denying it.

He was alive.

Zabuza leapt backward as he saw Naruto's other hand flash silver, a sharp kunai held in his hand. Zabuza landed crouched, his sword against his back.

"You…what are you doing here?" Inari growled. Naruto turned back and smiled gently.

"Saving you of course. I was going to lend a hand earlier, but….well I sort of had some inner troubles. You don't mind do you?"

Inari stared at him intently for a moment. The two's gazes met and they had a small staring contest for a moment before Inari smiled in a normal way.

"Don't expect any gratitude. I didn't ask for your help."

"Well, I didn't really expect any." Naruto readied a kunai. Inari shakily stood back up, and after a moments rest, quickly grabbed his sword. Gato crawled away, disappearing into the mist of the bridge.

"Well, I'll take that freak with no eyebrows." Naruto said, his gaze on Zabuza. "You take on that girly boy over there."

"Che, don't tell me what to do. Just get out of my way, cuz I'll just kill you if you're in the way." Inari stood and faced Haku. For a moment, the two stood back to back, the traditional image of two comrades, fighting for their lives. They both nodded their acknowledgements and both yelled "Go!" at the same time.

The two erupted from their spots, their weapons bared and their nerves steeled. Zabuza and Haku faced each other and nodded, before leaping off to their own scenes, hoping to have a good fight.

And so, the battle began

* * *

Zabuza and Naruto faced off, staring intently at each other. They carefully looked for holes in each other's defense, and tried to create a few with weak feints. But they were both carefully evaluating each other, like trained warriors.

After a moment of tension that seemed to last forever, Zabuza finally spoke what was on his mind.

"You, how did you survive? That wound should have killed you, even if you used medical ninjutsu or had a team of the world's best doctors. There's no way you should be alive right now!"

Naruto smiled and looked quite innocent. "Well, I've always had a strong body."

Zabuza growled "Don't kid with me, boy. That wound would have killed even the strongest shinobi. I doubt even an Akatsuki could survive that. How is it that you, a boy with no name in the world, survive such a cut?"

Naruto still looked innocent. "Well, let's just say I have a few gifts."

Zabuza growled once more and glared darkly. He lifted his sword and quickly said "I said stop kidding with me. Don't make me repeat myself. Do you want to know what I am called?"

"Nope."

Suddenly, Zabuza was behind Naruto, with such an amazing speed that Naruto didn't even realize it.

"The Hidden Village of Mist is known as the Bloody Mist. That's because we are the strongest shinobi village. We are the best assassins, the bloodiest, and the most violent. We take the most difficult missions. We are the best killers, the best tools, trained to kill from a young age." Zabuza swung downward, but Naruto's speed was much faster. He turned around and sliced through Zabuza, who turned into a mass of water. A Mizu Bunshin.

"Shinobi are tools. Don't forget that. And we are the best killing tools the world has to offer. Every year, in order to pass the Genin test, we must kill all of our fellow cadets and classmates. Only a group of 9 Genins are allowed. Every year, hundreds of children kill their classmates and friends brutally and mercilessly, just to take the title of a shinobi. Every child for themselves; only the strong survive."

Zabuza was in the air above Naruto, swinging his enormous sword downward. Naruto sidestepped, and Zabuza's sword embedded in the ground where Naruto was standing. Naruto's leg shot out, his kick reinforced with enormous chakra, and sent Zabuza into a nearby tree. Once again, that Zabuza turned out to be a Mizu Bunshin and exploded into water.

"The year I graduated, only one genin made it through. That genin became one of the most notorious shinobi in all of the Mist. That genin had killed all of his classmates and comrades without hesitation or regret. He was a demon who lived only to kill as a tool. That boy was me." Zabuza reappeared and swung at Naruto from behind. Naruto blocked the blow and strained to keep Zabuza from overpowering him.

"And that is why I am known as the Demon of the Mist."

With enormous strength, Naruto was sent back stumbling. Zabuza leapt onto a tree and formed a single handseal and muttered a jutsu.

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu_."

As the mist covered the area, Naruto lost all sight of everything. It was completely covered in heavy fog, and everything was concealed. Naruto looked wildly around, staring for the shape of Zabuza and his deadly blade. There was a whisper in the air, a foul whisper as dark as death. A whisper that spelled certain death.

"_Muon Satsujin no Jutsu._ Let's see if your little gift will save you once again."

* * *

Inari glared intensely at Haku, waiting for him to make the first move. After fighting Gato's minions, his loss to Zabuza, and Gato's beating, Inari was quite exhausted. He was on his last wind now; he doubted he could continue fighting for long.

Haku remained in his silent way. Inari evaluated the quiet shinobi, and tried to assess his strength based on appearance and stance. Haku stood relaxed which suggested confidence which usually meant that he was strong or just arrogant.

Inari decided to start off with a test. He grabbed the end of the hidden chain stashed in the grip of the katana and yanked it out. Grabbing the chain, he started swinging the katana as if it was a flail. He let loose and the sword flew at Haku who stood unmoving.

_He's just going to stand there? Does he want to die?_

The katana flew closer and was a near centimeter from stabbing Haku straight through the heart. With amazing speed, Haku dodged the katana at the last possible moment, and avoided a certain death.

_Fast!_ Inari retracted the chain and drew the sword back in. Haku was once again standing silently, observing Inari with an annoying quiet stare. Inari stared back until he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop standing there and fight me!"

Inari started running forward, keeping his sword to the front. Without warning, Haku leapt back and threw 3 senbon needles. Inari easily blocked them with his sword and continue running.

Haku jumped back, hurling senbon needles after the other in a hailstorm of metal death. Inari leapt over the needles. Finally, Inari gained enough ground and swung his sword. He missed, and Haku sidestepped. The next swing was dodged as well.

Inari continued his furious barrage and unleashed a deadly combo of swipes. Haku was continuously forced back, dodging back and forth to avoid the deadly blade.

It was within this tiring attack did Inari change his tactic. He went for a feint from above and Haku was careless and dodged to the right. He took the chance and brought the sword around to slash at Haku.

But Haku's superior speed had saved him. The shinobi purposely fell to the ground and avoided losing his head. But this led for quite a large opening. Inari recovered and swung downward in a wide arc. Haku desperately clapped his hands together and caught the sword in between palms. A trickle of blood leaked out from his hands.

"Give up?" Inari gritted and forced his sword downward. Haku's face contorted in concentration as his arms shook and sweated as the blade edged nearer.

"Sorry, but as long as Zabuza-sama needs me, I cannot surrender." Haku whispered, his voice strained. Without warning, his foot shot out and caught Inari in the stomach. Before the force of the blow could send Inari back, Haku rolled backward, and sent Inari rocketing forwards, the force that he had applied to the sword turning into momentum. Inari crashed into a tree and fell to the ground dazed.

Haku took a moment to catch his breath and stood back up. Inari laid where he landed, resting for a moment before stabbing his sword into the ground and helping himself up on it with both hands.

"You're not bad." Haku calmly said, his composure returned to normal. Inari smiled "You too. You're real fast."

Haku chuckled softly, his feminine voice similar to the sound of a bell and rang through the area. Haku lifted one hand up and formed a single handseal with only one hand

"Thanks, but it's still too early for you to say anything. The reason why I am Zabuza-sama's weapon and why I am useful to him is because of my ability."

"Your ability?"

Haku nodded and suddenly his chakra flared. Out of thin air, thin needles of ice rose into the air. Shards of ice surrounded his body and collected into a ring. In his hand, a shard of crystal clear ice appeared in his hand, sharp enough to slice anyone into shreds. Ice appeared everywhere, the temperature in the air dropped a sharp 20 degrees and the frosty mist formed into countless crystals of ice. When the chakra outburst finally subsided, Inari could only stare in shock, as the very ground Haku stood on was now ice. In the air around Haku were countless amounts of icy shards, and a giant wall of ice stood behind his small frame. The entire place had changed to a frozen wasteland.

"This is my bloodline limit."

* * *

Two blurs shot out, clashed against each other and then shot back into the places where it came from. With amazing speed, the two blurs clashed again and again, the sound of metal clinging on metal ringing through the air. The heavy mist in the air would prevent outsiders from seeing and the immense killing intent would make any normal person run away.

For the last few minutes, Zabuza and Naruto clashed inside the heavy mist of Zabuza's jutsu. The enormous zanbato had already broken 3 of Naruto's daggers and several of his weapons. The two had clashed again and again, neither gaining an advantage. They faced off equally, their speed, blows, and strength matching.

Zabuza's first attempt to kill Naruto silently as before failed, as Naruto already knew where he would strike. Naruto already predicted many of his strikes, so Zabuza's silent killer moves failed. The two began clashing with melee attacks and several projectiles.

Slowly but surely, Zabuza's jutsu faded as the jutsu's supply of chakra was used up. Finally, the mist lifted and revealed the pair. Each had sustained slight cuts from close calls, but neither managed to land a critical blow on the other.

Zabuza managed to speak. "Not bad. It's been a while since I had a challenge like this."

"Well, I'm glad to give you a challenge."

Zabuza dashed forward and swung his sword. Naruto blocked with his gauntlet and strained to push Zabuza off.

"I'm interested though. Why is a kid like you so strong? How did you survive that cut from before?" Zabuza leapt back and sheathed his blade once more. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to find that out from your corpse once I kill you. I'm going all out now."

Zabuza began forming a string of hand seals with amazing speed. His hands were a blur now, and were impossible to catch.

"_Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"_

From the nearby ocean, a mass of water rose from the water in the shape of a dragon. The awesome being radiated enormous chakra holding the water together. The swirling mass flew at Naruto quickly, its mouth opening ready to devour Naruto in its watery depths.

Naruto quickly jumped back as far as he could, the watery dragon splashed onto the ground and exploded in a massive splash. The water drenched Naruto, and the sheer speed at which it hit the ground stung Naruto's skin when it splashed over him.

Zabuza didn't stop at that. After gathering and molding a little more chakra, he began forming more hand seals. With a shout, he called out a jutsu.

"_Suition, Hahonryu!_"

Blasts of water formed in Zabuza's palm and quickly shot at Naruto. Naruto ducked and dodged the blasts, dashing around the area to look for cover. Once or twice, the water impacted and blasted him back, the impact as strong as a cannon's. Naruto quickly recovered and found cover behind a fallen log.

"Got you!" Zabuza yelled and fired even more water blasts. Thunderous suppression fire prevented Naruto from moving, and kept him holed behind the log. Zabuza fired one last shot before forming a series of hand seals and molding chakra to once again release a familiar jutsu.

Controlling the water through chakra, another dragon erupted from the ocean, this one nearly twice as large as the first. The sheer speed, size, and chakra of the dragon was more than enough to kill a person on impact or at least it would knock them out and make the target drown in the waters.

"_Suiton, Suiryuudan Daibakufu no Jutsu!_"

A normal _Suiryuudan_ would attempt to kill an enemy by having the dragon "swallow" the target and drown it within the body. If not, the impact of the water would knock someone out, while the chakra would damage the target. However, this variation of the _Suiryuudan_ was much more different. It was several times more powerful and the purpose was not to "swallow" the enemy but rather overwhelm the enemy in an enormous explosion of chakra-reinforced water from the huge torrent of water contained within the dragon.

The dragon roared and rushed at Naruto, who attempted to dodge out of the way, but it was useless. The humongous dragon completely devoured him. The dragon continued, leaving a path of watery destruction in its wake. The sheer power created an enormous flood, and the area was completely flooded.

Naruto was dragged along with the torrent, and dragged him down to watery depths. The dragon finally dispersed, leaving a semi-river. Naruto's body remained trapped in the water, and did not surface.

Zabuza grinned at his victory and then collapsed, using his zanbato for support. He took deep enormous breaths, and sweat trickled down his face. He suffered from enormous chakra exhaustion. A normal water dragon, then a barrage of water blasts and finally his own improved version of the water dragon. The sheer amount of chakra was impossible for even most jounins. In fact, Zabuza took several years of training as one of the Seven Swordsman just to be able to have enough chakra to perform the deadly ninjutsu combo.

It was his special combo. To use a water dragon to distract the opponent, and then firing a _Hahonryu _until the opponent was forced to take cover and then finishing the opponent off with his own invented _Suiryuudan Daibakufu_. This combo, however effective, took an enormous amount of chakra and stamina, but it was deadly. Without a doubt, that boy was dead.

"You…you were good…but this time, I know you're dead. No one could survive that. Enjoy your grave in the water, brat."

Zabuza collapsed and pulled out a soldier pill. He swallowed it to regain some lost chakra and stamina. Slowly, Zabuza stood back up and dragged his sword behind him, his energy spent. Chakra exhaustion was evident in his slow movements.

"Damn…that was tiring, but I have to check up on Haku. I'm sure he's fine though."

Zabuza walked away slowly, neglecting to check if Naruto was really dead or not. It didn't matter, because he knew no normal person could survive such a powerful ninjutsu combo. No normal person… but the boy should be dead, drowned in the watery depths, with malicious chakra traces in the water to speed and insure his death.

"It was a heroic effort, but it just wasn't enough, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

3 long spikes of ice shot forward and Inari sliced through the first one, while jumping to the side to avoid the other 2 spikes. Just as his foot touched the ground, Haku, with his natural speed, was in front of him, swinging with the ice shard that he used as a sword. Inari held up his sword by instinct and the two weapons clashed.

Haku disengaged and leapt backwards. He formed a single handed hand seal.

"Single handedly?" Inari wondered out loud. Shinobi required two hands to form hand seals, but no one had ever formed a seal with only one.

"_Sensatsu Suisho."_

Water began floating into the air, and formed into long sharp needles. Needles collected in the air, and within moments, a thousand needles floated in the air. It was an awesome sight, one thousand deadly needles, floating still in air, certain death spelled out. With a simple flick of the wrist from Haku, the deadly storm unleashed itself.

Thousands and thousands of needles whistled and shot through the air. Inari, shocked, quickly yanked out a chain from the bottom of the hilt, and started swinging the blade in front of him as fast as he could. The blade flowed in circles like a windmill; the sheer speed of each complete circle could not be seen.

A few needles were deflected by the swinging blade, but it was not fast enough to block the vast amount. Needles passed by Inari's feeble last moment defense and struck home. Blood shot out and for a full minute, the storm of needles bombarded Inari.

The storm finally subsided, revealing Inari with numerous needles sticking out, like a porcupine. Blood dripped out of his countless wounds, and he fought to stay conscious.

Haku stood silently, observing as Inari fought to catch his breath. As Haku stood, a dark shadowy figure appeared next to him.

"Zabuza-sama." Haku said in slight surprise as he noticed him. Zabuza gave a slight grunt and nod.

"Haku, are you finished here?"

"Yes, Zabuza-sama."

"Good. Then we're done here."

"Zabuza-sama, how was your fight?"

Zabuza walked over to Inari and responded without looking back "Fun. I had to go all out that time." Haku looked a bit anxious but didn't say anything.

Zabuza raised his sword over Inari, whose feeble and weakened mind could hardly comprehend what was going on.

"It's over this time. That brat won't miraculously come back this time. It was fun at first, but now it's just annoying, I'll just end this." Zabuza grinned in anticipation and prepared to deliver his final blow. For now, he had killed that blonde brat, and soon he would kill this boy. Soon, all this annoyance would end.

But Zabuza, just didn't know how wrong he was.

* * *

Down in his supposed waterlogged grave, Naruto struggled franticly for air as he was trapped under a fallen log. The massive dragon made of water would usually kill most people on impact, but the protective youki of the Kyuubi had saved him. A protective cocoon of Bijuu chakra had surrounded him at the last moment, once the Kyuubi saw that his host was facing an imminent death.

Naruto formed a hand seal in the form of a cross. Since the water would muffle his voice, there was no need to call out the jutsu name. In the water, a large group of clones appeared and helped to pull the log off Naruto. With the combined might, the log easily lifted and Naruto was freed.

His head burst from the water and he took huge breathes of air in. After a moment's rest, Naruto swam out of the mini-river that Zabuza had created from the waters of the ocean. He lugged himself onto the bank and collapsed on the ground, taking long deep breathes.

"Inari, he's in trouble!"

Naruto stood up, and dashed toward the direction he knew where Inari was. He finally arrived at the bridge, where Zabuza was getting ready to finish off Inari.

"ZABUZA!!!"

Naruto's voice echoed throughout the area. Zabuza' s eyes widened in surprise.

"You! How? How are you still alive?" Zabuza roared "I killed you! No one could survive that! How are you still alive?"

"Heh. It's going to take a lot more to kill me than that." Naruto grinned but his smile faded as Haku took off his mask to reveal his feminine face, almost indiscernible from the face of a girls. Haku jumped forward and leapt between Zabuza and Naruto.

"Zabuza-sama, please allow me to take care of him." Haku said quickly. Zabuza grunted and answered "Go ahead. But make sure that guy dies this time. He's starting to annoy me."

Haku acknowledged with a nod and formed a hand seal with one hand, surprising Naruto.

"I won't hold back, Naruto-kun. I will end this now."

Slowly, but surely, 21 large man-sized mirrors, made completely out of crystal ice formed in the air around Naruto. The mirrors formed a dome, and the little space between each mirror was not enough for Naruto to slip through.

"This is my Kekkei Genkai, _Hyoton._ I can create ice from anywhere with just a little bit of water or even the moisture in the air." Haku stepped into one of the ice mirrors, and strangely, his body seemed to flow into the mirror. It was as if the mirror had just swallowed him up. "And this is the ultimate final jutsu for _Hyoton_."

"_Makyo Hyosho_."

Suddenly, a needle flew through the air at Naruto, who quickly dodged it. Haku's form, which appeared in the mirror he had stepped into, stared impassively.

"Every one of my needles will aim to kill or incapacitate you. Even if you are fast, you cannot defend yourself from all sides."

Haku moved from mirror to mirror, his speed to fast to be caught. His speed could make him be at one side in one moment before swiftly appearing on the other side in the next instant. Every time he moved to a different mirror, he threw a senbon needle. With his speed, skill, and amazing aim, Haku was nearly unstoppable. Needle after needle shot at Naruto, who desperately used a combination of shadow clones and swift dodges to avoid them.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Another group of clones appeared and were immediately destroyed by another storm of needles.

Every time Naruto tried to escape from the dome, a huge flurry of needles prevented him from moving. He threw kunai and shuriken, and even a few exploding notes at the mirrors, but the mirrors seem to be indestructible. His chakra was slowly eaten away as he continuously made clones as living shields to protect himself.

"There is no point in fighting back. Accept your defeat and die." Haku's monotone voice said. "I will never fail Zabuza-sama!"

Naruto chuckled, despite his predicament. "Why? Why do you fight for someone who probably doesn't care about you?"

The question caught Haku off guard and stopped his movements for a while. "When I was a child, my parents were killed right in front of me for not paying taxes to Akatsuki. From then on, I lived on the streets. I was only a young child and I was in a position where I could die at any moment. Then Zabuza found me, learned about my abilities and took me in."

Haku closed his eyes and reminisced deeply.

"The greatest pain in this world is to be alone. To know that I am not needed or wanted. To know that everyone in the world didn't care if I died or lived. To live without anyone knowing my name. Zabuza was the one who saved me from a living hell. He gave me a reason to live, he made me feel needed. That is why I devote myself to him, because he is the reason for my existence. I live only to serve Zabuza as his tool."

"Why? People are not tools! How can you just live without your own purpose or needs?"

"Because, my life has no other purpose except to serve. I am not needed by anyone else, and my existence is useless to everyone except for Zabuza-sama. It doesn't matter what you think or if it's wrong, because this is the only way for me to accept that I deserve to live. Because Zabuza needs me." Haku suddenly pulled on his mask once more, shielding whatever emotion he had. "That is enough with talking. I will end you life here, and prove to Zabuza that I am still needed as a tool, so that I may continue to exist."

Naruto looked downward, his bangs shielding his eyes. Suddenly, he lifted his right arm, the one covered in a gauntlet, to his shoulder height. He held it straight and clenched his fist.

Haku formed a single handed hand seal.

"_Sensatsu Suisho."_

Countless needles shot from the mirrors. Thousands upon thousands of icy needles hurled themselves upon Naruto, each one of them promising an instant death.

Naruto emotionlessly said with a blank face. "Then there's nothing left for me to say to a mere tool. The only thing left is for me to beat you."

Naruto's left hand reached out to grab his silver gauntlet at the elbow. Unbuckling a clasp, he pulled it off with a single swift and precise movement. The gauntlet fell off from his arm.

"It's over."

And the entire world went up in blue flames.

* * *

Zabuza stared at the ice mirrors. He had rarely seen Haku's ultimate move, except when he was facing an extremely tough opponent. Zabuza knew that the boy could not win. Haku was strong, Zabuza trained him himself. Haku's speed was far above his own, and his stealth nearly on the same level. Not only that, but Haku's bloodline was almost unbeatable. Even the seemingly invincible Naruto should not be able to survive Haku's merciless attacks.

Zabuza turned his attention back at Inari, who struggled to get up. Zabuza grunted and kicked Inari in the side, causing the boy to curl up.

"Now then, Haku should be almost finished." Zabuza unslung his sword and prepared to finally deal a killing blow. But like all the other times, as if pure luck was on their side, something stopped him.

An enormous blast of blue chakra, so powerful that it completely engulfed Haku's mirrors, exploded outward. Enormous gusts of wind caused Zabuza to crouch to the ground.

"What? What is this?" Zabuza yelled. The chakra completely destroyed all the mirrors and shattered them. Sent hurtling from the explosion, the beaten body of Haku flew at Zabuza, unconscious. Zabuza quickly caught him.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Zabuza, confused, tried to find the source of the chakra explosion. And soon, the source would emerge from the dust cloud the explosion had caused.

It was Naruto. His gauntlet was back on his arm clasped tightly, and his cloak was torn to shreds. The wind blew his tattered rags of clothes in a dramatic way.

Zabuza growled and gently set Haku on the ground. He unsheathed his blade and started walking forward quickly. He scowled deeply.

"Why? Why is it that no matter how many times I killed you, you won't die? Why is it that no matter how much I cut you apart, blast you to pieces that you won't die? What is it about you?" Zabuza yelled "And how, how are you so strong that you can defeat Haku? What is it that makes you fight so hard?"

Naruto started walking forward as well, a kunai in his hand. Without replying, the two met each other and immediately clashed blades. The two fought for power over the other, but fought to a stalemate.

"The reason why I can't die…" Naruto growled and swung his kunai again. The two continuously attacked each other and would always block again.

"…is because I made a promise." Naruto grabbed another kunai from his pouch and swung both of them from opposite sides. Zabuza blocked one with his sword, and blocked the other with his own kunai that he pulled out.

"And until I finish that promise…" Naruto leapt high into the air, hurling projectiles. As he approached the ground, he kicked. Zabuza met the kick with taijutsu and the two fought off with punches, blocks, dodges, and kicks..

"I can't die…" The two leapt away from each other. They both breathed hard, as they faced each other, carefully looking for and exploiting weaknesses in their guards.

"Because I never go back on my words… THAT'S MY WAY OF THE NINJA!" Naruto held his right arm out to the side and pulled the clasp off of the gauntlet.

There was a huge explosion of chakra as the gauntlet tore off. Zabuza could only gape in shock as an enormous amount of chakra gathered around Naruto's arm. There was so much chakra that it was actually visible and crackling. Naruto's entire right arm was covered in blue chakra, up to his shoulder and even flowing behind his back in an enormous wave. The sheer amount of chakra was larger than Naruto himself, and was like a bomb ready to go off. It flowed off in waves, and burned an intense blue, so much that his arm itself was no longer visible. It was as if his entire arm was made of pure chakra.

"What?" Zabuza could only step backward in shock and fear. Naruto's face was as dark as death itself, seriousness etched in his usually smiling features. His eyes were blood red instead of bright blue, as if the very fires of hell burned in them. "What is that?"

"This was one of Akatsuki's experiments." Naruto's voice was deep and full of hatred. "It was one of their early attempts to modify the chakra circulatory system."

Zabuza's eyes widened. "You were one of their experiments? You? I see…that is how you are so strong."

Naruto didn't say anything. He let his arm drop back to his side. His chakra intensified and soon the air was ablaze with chakra. It shot up in the air in a gigantic twisting pillar of blue flame. At his hand was the main concentration of energy which was shaped into a ball like formation.

Without another moment's hesitation, Naruto starting dashing forward toward Zabuza. With tremendous speed, he charged forward, his arm ready to swing a punch. The swirling chakra trailed along behind him, resembling a massive trail of death. With a sudden burst of speed, Naruto neared Zabuza, who stood terrified and frozen to the spot. Terrified. He, the Devil of the Mist, and one of the 7 Swordsman of the Mist, was standing petrified, like some new green genin, or a fear-struck academy cadet.

"No!" Zabuza tried to move but his legs were like jelly. They refused all of the commands his mind sent it. Naruto approached closer and closer until he was only 3 more strides before coming into contact.

The only thing that Zabuza could do was raise his zanbato to protect himself. He held it in front of his body as Naruto chakra covered fist neared Zabuza.

"IT'S OVER, ZABUZA!!!"

The blow hit and exploded in an enormous beam of chakra. It exploded outward in a dome, and engulfed the entire area. The chakra continued onward in an enormous destructive beam, destroying everything in its path.

"ARGGHHHHHH!!"

Zabuza's scream was heard for miles as he was sent flying through the air. The powerful chakra blast had sent him hurtling like a rocket, his body like a rag doll.

The explosion of power finally stopped, and the chakra dispersed into the air. All that was left was a huge smoke cloud lingering the air, dust floating around in small particles. There was an enormous crater, where Naruto's fist had punched Zabuza's sword, and there was another crater several hundred feet away where the energy beam fired from Naruto arm had impacted. Along with it was a long path of destruction and smoldering ruin.

Zabuza had been sent flying for several feet until he hit a boulder, which was now cracked and turned into powder. There was an enormous burn on his abdomen where the blast had hit. His flesh and skin were burned black and blood ran through the cracks on the charred smoking skin. The blast would have killed him if he hadn't blocked with his sword which absorbed the larger part of the impact.

His huge sword was a beautiful piece of work, handed down from generation to generation. Each of the Seven Swordsman's weapons was legendary, and was always passed down from one shinobi to the next. But even the legendary sword of the Seven Swordsman was now melted into a chunk of scrap metal, bulbous and without any shape. The sheer power of the chakra Naruto had used was enough to reduce one of the world's greatest achievements in sword smithing into molten metal. But if it had been a weaker sword or a normal one, Zabuza would have died instantly.

But his body was broken. He struggled to breath, and every breath was like a knife stab in his body. He might have broken a few ribs, or many of his internal organs were crushed.

Naruto stood at the edge of the smoking crater he had created. The chakra covering his arm had diminished, and his arm was visible. The chakra was still visible, but it seemed almost ghostly now and didn't burn nowhere near the intensity it first did.

"You've lost, Zabuza." Naruto reached down and grabbed the gauntlet, and clasped it around his arm. The chakra immediately faded away.

Zabuza could only maintain consciousness for a few more moments before his vision blackened and faded away. He did the only thing he had left to do. He accepted his defeat and admitted his loss.

"Yeah, I've lost."

And so, the battle for Wave had ended. Gato had been overthrown, and his men defeated. It was finally over.

It was finally over, but the real battle had yet to begin.

* * *

Gato had been running away for the entirety of the battle between Naruto-Inari and Zabuza-Haku. He ran desperately, without stopping or looking back. Well actually, it wasn't him that was running. His leg had been cut off, and it still throbbed with pain. He was currently riding on the back of one of his many lackeys, who happened to chance upon Gato crawling away from the bridge. The bridge guard had been going on his daily rounds until he felt the massive killer intent and battle that was going on. His first impulse was to run, but then he found Gato crawling towards him, screaming for help.

"Damn…that brat…who are they….who the fuck are they to mess with me, a _Shugaki?_ I'll show them! I'll get to town and bring an army that only I can make! They'll fucking pay!"

Gato's lackey, who was beginning to tire suddenly stopped. He froze in place, while lifting his hand to point at something in the mist. He began stuttering incomprehensibly, his face contorted into fear.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a…."

"What?" Gato angrily said. "Why are you stopping? Hurry up and get me to…"

"A-a-a-Aka-aka-akatsu…"

The poor man never got to finish his sentence. Silently and swiftly, a shuriken flew through the air and imbedded itself in his head. He was killed almost instantly. He fell to the ground, blood spraying from his head all over Gato, who could only mumble in shock and fear.

Suddenly, a killing intent that Gato had never felt before rose in the air. The aura was so overwhelming, so malicious, that it made Zabuza seem like a mere pet. Plant life seems to die as the killing intent increased. Grasses shrunk, flowers drooped, and all wildlife had long since run away. Gato stood frozen.

"What…what is this? Why…why…this killing intent….it's so much that I want to kill myself now and end it here….what the hell is going on?" Gato tried to move, but his body was completely frozen. His bowels loosened and emptied, but Gato didn't care. The fear was too much; his mind was almost shutting down. It was as if he was drowning in the flood of killer intent. His lungs had stopped working and could hardly breathe as the air grew heavy.

Through this mist, a figure emerged. A figure dressed in a cloak, as black as death, with blood red cloud designs running through it. Set upon his forehead, was the old forehead protector of Takigakure, the Hidden Waterfall Village. Over the symbol, a horizontal line ran straight through, cutting across the hitai-ate. He wore a mask over his mouth and nose, and a white turban to cover his head with the exception of his glowing eyes. His pupils were bright, full of evil and darkness, while the rest of his eyes were as black as the pits of hell.

Bells rang in the distance, and the man walked forward with an amazing grace of a powerful shinobi. Every step was full of confidence, full of power. Every step was calm and full of authority and he walked with the air of amazing strength and self-confidence. His calm posture, powerful aura, and deadly killer intent were obvious proof of his strength.

This man was Akatsuki. One of the 9 most feared shinobi in the world, and his power almost ultimate. There could be none that would oppose him, and no one would dare to stand in front of him. Just a mere glance of him would bring even the most strongest of men to their knees.

Gato could only stare in fear, his mouth agape and his mind utterly lost.

"Gato…"

A deep gruff voice, full of murderous intent. Gato flinched at every syllable of his own name.

"You disappoint me. I come here to visit one of my _Shugaki_, and this is what I see? You have lost control of your own land. You have lost control of your people, and have been defeated by two mere brats." The Akatsuki approached Gato, who tried to shuffle back. "You are pitiful. You are a disgrace. I let you into _Shugaki_, because of your greed. You would make money, and you were cruel and ruthless. But how you have fallen, crawling on your knees, begging for help like a dog."

Gato immediately recognized the man. He was the creator of the _Shugaki,_ and the man in charge of all the finances of Akatsuki. This man created the whole tax system. He was the greediest amongst all of Akatsuki, and one of the oldest members. He was known as the Treasurer of Akatsuki, and the most known in public.

This man was named Kakuzu, 6th member of Akatsuki.

"K-k-k-k-kakuzu-sama!" Gato stuttered. He was shaking with absolute fear.

"I do not care if you have lost control of the people. No, what is more important to me is the money. I assume that once the people know you have fled the island, they would take your wealth for themselves. This is unacceptable."

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Gato cried and bowed down to Kakuzu.

"I might."

Gato looked up in relief, but Kakuzu wasn't finished.

"You know that money is everything in this world. Without money, there is no power, and without money, no one will have anything. Money is power. Money is everything. The people, their possessions, everything, are all measurable as money." Kakuzu strolled around Gato, who continuously bowed.

"I can forgive you for losing control of the island and the people." Kakuzu held his hand out, as if to help him up. Gato disbelievingly reached out and grabbed it, his relief and happiness evident on his face.

"But it is unforgiveable that you have lost my money because to me, money is everything."

Kakuzu grip suddenly tightened.

"ARGHHHHHHHH!!!"

Gato screamed and screamed as the grip tightened more and more. The pressure on his hand was unbearable. Blood began leaking out from his hand and the sound of bone being crushed was heard.

"And you will pay for every cent with your life."

Kakuzu squeezed so hard that Gato's hand literally exploded, sending blood, bone fragments, and flesh flying everywhere, splattering the ground. Before Gato could even start screaming, Kakuzu grabbed his wrist, and twisted hard. As he twisted, he yanked down hard. The entire arm ripped off messily, with many thin strands coming out from the holes and a good part of the shoulder came with it. Blood shot out in huge streams.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Gato could only squirm and struggle.

But Kakuzu had yet to finish. With lightning quick speed, his hand shot out and stabbed into Gato's chest. Disbelief was etched on Gato's face, as he went into shock and convulsed violently. There was the sickening sound of flesh being torn, ripped apart and a hand shifting inside through flesh, blood and bone. Kakuzu reached around inside Gato's chest and found what he was looking for. Violently, he retracted his arm and pulled out Gato's still beating heart, with veins and arteries still attached. Kakuzu examined the muscular dripping organ before grunting.

"Hmph. Even your organs are useless to me. This heart is too weak for me to use." Kakuzu said distastefully. Thin black threads came from his sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak and began fixing up Gato's body. The threads covered Gato's torn off shoulder and stopped the bleeding. Threads reattached the heart into Gato's chest and stitched up the large gaping hole.

Gato was in shock. He didn't move from his spot, and could only stare at the black threads that were now holding his body together. His mind could no longer stand the pain, and began to block it out completely. His mind slowly began to fade away into unconsciousness, the pain too much for him.

As his vision blacked out, he saw Kakuzu attach a seal somewhere inside the mass of black threads that had replaced his chest. The Akatsuki member formed a single handseal and there was a bright light.

"Then, perhaps you still have one use. I want you to pass a message. To the two brats who defeated you and your forces." Kakuzu leaned forward to Gato's ear and whispered a single cryptic chilling message.

"Tell them that I am coming to visit them soon."

* * *

A/N

Wow. That was so much longer than I intended. I believe I overdid the fight scenes and wrote too much. If that's the case, then I'm sorry. But starting from next chapter, the real story begins and the action starts. Yes, next chapter Naruto finally clashes against Akatsuki, but is he strong enough to defeat them?

Characters from Canon Naruto will be introduced slowly along the story. So don't worry, they'll get here. By the way, I purposely try not to write any humor in this story because it's not a humor story (its hard…so hard to not add a joke or two…) on the contrary, this story will be quite tragic at some points. There WILL be character deaths and it will be very violent and bloody. I think I wrote a bit too much violence and gore in this chapter though. I intentionally made it bloody, but I think I overdid it…

I decided that Kakuzu will be the first member he will face off. As of yet, Akatsuki has yet to know of Naruto's existence. I'll try to keep each of the Akatsuki's abilities and level as close to the canon as I can. For those that don't know who Kakuzu is (Its in the recent manga chapters) I'll explain about him in the next chapter, including why he would want someone's heart. The story will continue off next chapter starting with Naruto and Inari, the country of waves, and what will ultimately happen to Zabuza and Haku. And yes, I decided to keep them alive for a reason. They'll become quite important…

As for that chakra thing involving Naruto's gauntlet…believe me when I say I plan to explain everything thoroughly and completely. There will be a part later in the story which will go into detail about everything. But for now, please just not question too much about it. I've already planned the whole thing out to the smallest details.

If there are any questions, inconsistencies in the story, or problems, feel free to review or PM me.

Thanks for reading this chapter, and please leave a review on your way out. Let me know any mistakes, or tell me if I overdid the battles or something. Until next time…

Jutsu Translation – Only new jutsus will be explained

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** – Shadow Clone Technique.

**Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu** – Water Release, Water Dragon Blast Technique – creates a dragon made out of water through the chakra of the user and is controlled to an extent by the user. It needs existing water in the area to be used and requires 54 handseals (OMG!).

**Suiton, Hahonryu no Jutsu** – Water Release Rapid Crasher – Creates water that spirals in the users hands and fires at the target.

**Suiton, Suiryuudan Daibakufu** – Water Release, Water Dragon Blast Water Explosion – A mix between Daibakufu no Jutsu and Suiryuudan. The dragon is several times larger and more powerful and once it collides against something, it explodes in a massive torrent of water, making it nearly 5 times as powerful but consumes 5 times as much chakra as a normal suiryuudan. (I made this one up.)

**Hyoton** – Ice Release – Haku's bloodline limit that allows him to create ice from a small limited amount of water(I.E. moisture in the air). Most Shinobi requires the use of existing ice, but the bloodline allows the user to use ice almost anywhere. Manipulates wind and water elements to create ice.

**Sensatsu Suisho** – Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death – Creates thousands of needles made of ice/water and can be fired at will.

**Makyo Hyosho** – Demonic Ice Mirrors- Creates mirrors where Haku can freely teleport between. Traps enemies within or can be used as a shield.

**Kirigakure no Jutsu** – Hidden Mist Technique

**Muon Satsujin no Jutsu** – Silent Kill Technique

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu** – Water Clone Technique


	5. The Treasurer of Akatsuki

Haku's eyes slowly opened as his mind regained consciousness. The first thing he saw was smoke. Choking clouds of smoking, suffocating the air and completely smothering the area. Haku remained laying down as he clutched his forehead which was throbbing with pain. With a few moments of rest, he sat back up and saw the formerly peaceful forest setting.

"W….what happened…?"

The entire area was destroyed. Smoke rose from torched ground, covered in ash. There was an enormous trail of destruction cutting across the earth and ended at a huge crater which completely devastated the land. Haku could only stare in astonishment.

After looking around, Haku noticed the burnt and destroyed body of Zabuza laying several hundred feet away.

"Zabuza-sama!"

Haku struggled to stand and began running toward Zabuza's fallen body. "Geh!" As Haku ran, blood shot out of his mouth. The strange thing that Naruto did earlier with his gauntlet had done a great deal of damage. Still, Haku ignored the pain and continued to dash toward Zabuza, ignoring Naruto who was lying on the ground sleeping.

Haku reached Zabuza's side, his body on the brink of failure. He coughed up more blood but tried to keep strong. "Z-Zabuza-sama, are you…ok? How are you feeling?"

Zabuza was somewhere between death and life; his mind was straying from consciousness and unconsciousness. After hearing Haku calling his name, he stirred and one of his eyelids slowly lifted.

"Haku…..We lost, didn't we…."

Tears started flowing from Haku's eyes "No, Zabuza-sama. We're both still alive. We'll live to fight another day. This is just one loss of many; remember that he lost to you many times already."

Zabuza painfully shook his head "No, he let me win those times. He has surpassed me already. I can tell from his chakra, from the evil taint that traces it. There are only 9 beings that can possess a tainted chakra like him. That boy, without a doubt…he is a…"

Before Zabuza could finish, he coughed out blood and started shaking violently. Haku immediately comforted him and managed to restrain him. Quickly, Haku began assessing the amount of damage and how to treat the wound. Haku had some training in medical ninjutsu, though nowhere near as proficient as a medical ninja, he could still at least fix some of the damage.

Haku formed a one handed seal and closed his eyes in concentration. After focusing for a moment, his hand glowed green from healing chakra, and he gently placed it on the burns covering Zabuza's body. This particular medical ninjutsu was used to clean the wound and speed up cellular growth so skin could be grown again, sealing the wound. If used in a certain way, it could heal most burns, but Haku was no medical ninja, he only knew enough to heal just a small portion.

"Haku…just leave me… I'm going to die soon anyway…"

"No, Zabuza-sama! I won't let you die! Don't worry, I can fix this. I can do it!"

Despite Haku's best efforts, Zabuza's condition worsened rapidly. His heartbeat was dropping and his mind constantly fluttered in and out of consciousness and unconsciousness. Haku, franticly put more effort into his healing, refusing to accept that the wound was much too much for someone of Haku's level to heal.

"Zabuza-sama! I won't give up!" Haku redoubled his efforts, but he simply wasn't advanced enough to treat such a wound. Soon, Haku's already depleted chakra was drained next to zero and he could no longer keep on the strenuous chakra draining healing technique. Haku could only scream as his healing jutsu sputtered out and died once the supply of chakra ran out.

"No! Come on! Damnit, don't fail me! Come on!" Haku screamed and tried to mold more chakra but it was no longer there. He was completely drained. Chakra depletion was beginning to take its effect and he was on the verge of collapsing but he continued to force himself to mold chakra. If he continued, he would most likely die.

It was at this time that Naruto appeared, walking toward the frantic Haku. After defeating Zabuza, he just dropped to the floor and fell asleep in a moment. He was completely exhausted from the fighting, but just a few moments sleep would rejuvenate his energy.

"Move."

Naruto simply said and roughly shoved Haku out of the way, who no longer had the energy to retaliate. Naruto formed a chakra channeling hand seal and then placed both of his palms on Zabuza's injury. Naruto's touch caused pain to shoot up in Zabuza's abdomen, and he groaned as hands came in contact with his painful wound.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Haku tried to stop Naruto, but he could barely lift his fist off the ground. Naruto ignored Haku and Zabuza's groan, and began focusing his chakra. Within moments, his hand began glowing in a strange yellow-greenish color instead of the healing green. With this, Zabuza's wounds rapidly began healing, to the extent that not even a scar would be left.

Haku stared in amazement as Naruto healed Zabuza. The wounds rapidly healed, as if 20 years was being fast forwarded within 10 seconds. Soon, all of Zabuza's wounds were completely healed. It was almost a miracle, something that only the best medical ninjas could hope to accomplish.

"What…what was that? W-what kind of medical ninjutsu was that?" Haku stuttered. Naruto finally spoke.

"I don't know a thing about medical ninjutsu. In fact, I didn't even know what I was doing." Haku would've slapped Naruto if he had the strength. "All I know is that if I modify the way I mold chakra, I can heal almost any wound. Call it some ability or something."

_A bloodline? Then what was that chakra blast thing he unleashed earlier? _Haku thought. This blonde was really quite a mysterious being. But he chose to leave those questions for later; his attention was focused on Zabuza right now.

"He's all right now." Naruto stepped back and Haku crawled to Zabuza's side, who weakly lifted one of his eyelids.

"H-haku…will you…leave me here?" Haku gently smiled. His face was that of an angel. For a moment, the Demon and the Angel looked at each other. One was smiling, while the other struggled to live.

"No, Zabuza-sama. I won't leave you, because you never left me."

------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Country of Water

As the name suggested, the Country of Water was located next to the ocean and included several islands, upon which the Hidden Village of Mist was located. Mizu no Kuni or the Country of Water, was a conflicted land, that had seen many senseless civil wars. Hundreds and hundreds of people were exterminated for the worst reasons, with battles breaking out everywhere.

It was in this troubled land and era when Haku was born. Born to a poor peasant family, Haku lived a simple rural life at first. Loved by nearly all the townspeople, Haku was known as a innocent cute child. Life was simple.

But in one day, everything changed.

Mizu no Kuni was undergoing a genocide. People with bloodline limits were persecuted everywhere. They were publicly tortured and then executed. Those days, people feared everything strange and unknown, which included bloodline abilities. The Hidden Village of Mist had recently executed thousands of civilians on a false account of them being spies for other villages. With people fearing nearly everything, they turned to a small minority in order to vent out their own feelings.

On a normal day, Haku was out playing. He had expected the day to be just like the other days, living a carefree life. Until that moment, life was normal and the Earth had continued spinning.

Until that moment.

Before Haku knew it, there was a giant block of ice in front him. He had only followed a whim, and followed a strange feeling in his mind. In a place where there was nothing but space was now a giant block of ice. Haku stared in amazement at the ice he believed he just created. For the next 2 hours, he experimented, trying to replicate the feeling.

Eventually, he finally discovered the secret. He could create a small ball of ice in the palm of his hand whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted. At first, he thought it was a dream. But with every time he created more ice, he began to believe this was reality.

The first thing the child Haku did was to show his father. As a child at that time, naturally, Haku would turn to his parents to show them his neat little trick. He walked up to his father, and formed a ball of ice right in front of him. That was when Haku's halcyon days ended. That was when his life changed forever.

His father discovered that Haku's mother carried the _Hyoton_ bloodline, the bloodline gifted with the ability to manipulate water element and wind element to form ice. Without warning, his father and a mob from town stormed Haku's home, and caught Haku's screaming mother. Then before Haku's eyes, his father beheaded his mother. Right before him, her head fell to the ground before him, her glazed dead eyes staring into Haku's for all eternity. Forever in Haku's mind, the image of his mother's dead unseeing eyes would be blazed in his memory.

Then his father turned on him. His father raised his ax, poised to kill Haku with the same weapon that ended his mother's life. It was then when Haku lost control. He didn't know if it was anger or sadness of his mother's death. He didn't know if it was revenge that drove him to do it. He didn't know if it was the feeling of betrayal and anger of seeing the faces he grew up with curse at him. One moment, Haku was whimpering for his life. The next, his entire house was destroyed, the mob ripped to shreds, and a giant field of razor sharp icicles sticking from the ground. Bloodied corpses were impaled on the icicles, with blood leaking down the cold substance. Haku was in shock, for the only thing that was left of the mob was bunches of meat, red and bleeding, no different than the carcass of an animal.

In was in that day that Haku's world had stopped spinning.

-

For one whole year, Haku drifted from town to town, place to place. He had no home to go to, no place to stay. He drifted like a ghost, people looking straight past him. Everyone ignored him, no one noticed him. It was as if he was a ghost. Haku felt like a ghost, weightless, useless, and doomed to wander the world until the end would come.

Namelessly, Haku trudged the long road. He lived off the scraps in the trash, slept under what little shelter he could find. He was reduced to living like an animal, begging for his food, and surrendering his last shreds of humanity just to live a little bit longer. He had not used his bloodline since the day his mother was killed.

Soon, Haku was on the verge of death, wandering around on a poverty-stricken town. It was then he met him. A man exactly like Haku. He had no name, no home, no place to go. He lived like an animal, fighting and killing to survive just a little bit longer. All he was, was a killer, a tool. He only killed and killed, basking in the blood of his enemies.

He was Momochi Zabuza, former shinobi of the Mist. He had been exiled for his failed attempt to overthrow Akatsuki's control over his village. For years, he had been on the run, drifting from town to town just like Haku. He kept himself alive by working for various officials, hiding under a fake identity.

"Hey kid. What are you doing here?" Zabuza had asked Haku that day. Haku remained silent.

"Don't you have a place to go? Where are you parents?" Haku simply shook his head. Zabuza immediately knew what his answer would be.

"I see. No place for you to go, just like me. If you stay strong, you just might live." Zabuza sighed "So why is it that you are wandering around, talking to trash like me?"

Haku didn't respond in words but in actions. He didn't know why, but he felt as if he could trust this man. This man wouldn't turn him in. He instinctively knew that this man wouldn't persecute him just for having a bloodline nor hate him for it. It was as if somewhere deep in his soul, he was connected to this man. They were the same, Haku and him. Always running, no place to go, no home to return to.

Haku formed a ball of ice in his hands. It simply formed out of nowhere, from thin air. Zabuza's eyes widened in shock for a single moment before returning to its harsh glare.

"I see. You carry a bloodline." Haku nodded while Zabuza chuckled lightly. "To carry such a powerful ability and not to be used, what a pity."

"You see, kid, shinobi exist as tools. They are nothing more, nothing less. We do what is necessary to complete our mission. We do not feel, we do not have emotions. That is the life of a shinobi. I don't care what you are, what you have done, and what you want to do. All I want is power." Haku listened on with rapt attention, drinking in every word that Zabuza said.

"And you have power. Kid, do you want to keep wandering around for the rest of your life? Do you just want to live with no reason? I can give you a purpose. Join me and fight for me as a tool. You won't have to walk around anymore knowing that you have no purpose in life nor a reason to live. What do you say?"

It was in that moment Haku already knew what his answer was going to be. He nodded.

Zabuza smirked and held out his hand. Haku shook it. "I'm Momochi Zabuza. From now on, you will fight as my weapon and in return for your abilities; I will give you a place in this world."

It was in that day, Haku no longer had to just drift aimlessly for the rest of his life, searching for a place to go. He had found a place in the world as a shinobi. There was a reason for him to exist now. He would exist only for Zabuza, and live only for him. His life was now just one of Zabuza's weapons. Somewhere deep inside, he knew it was somewhat wrong, but drifting around aimlessly from town to town, to know that he was not needed in this world was one of the greatest pains he ever felt. But now, Zabuza would need him. He would need his bloodline ability. That in itself restored Haku's will to live.

In that day, Haku's world began spinning once again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------End Flashback

Tears started flowing from the angelic face of Haku as he cradled Zabuza's head. Zabuza had fallen unconscious again. "I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama, I wasn't able…I wasn't able to protect you or do as you wished. I failed, Zabuza-sama."

"Oy, are you still crying about losing to me?" Naruto called out. He was lazily lying on the branch of a tree. His calm disposition and seemingly unmarked body had made it seem as if he hadn't just been a major fight.

Haku glared at the blonde "Shut up. How can you be so relaxed? You should be dead by now!"

"Ah well, I've always healed pretty quick." Naruto shrugged. "But you know, that guy could've killed me a long time ago if he just took the time to make sure I was dead. It's his fault that he was careless and let me survive."

"Shut up! Don't say things about Zabuza-sama like that! He cut nearly cut you in half; of course he thought you would be dead!"

"Wow, you really love this guy don't you?"

"Shut up!" Haku stood up angry and pissed. He would try to attack the blonde but he had next to no chakra and could barely stay awake with his injuries. So he took a different approach. "And what about you? What happened to that little friend of yours that I beat?"

"What? Inari? Oh right, where did he go? I haven't seen him in a while." Naruto looked around, finally noticing that Inari wasn't there. In fact, Naruto had completely forgotten about him. Haku smirked and whispered under his breath "Idiot."

"Oh well. Let's get back to town." Naruto turned around and started walking. Haku stared at him in confusion.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Why you of course. Who else do you think I'm talking to? The birds? Anyways, I'm sure they can treat your wounds better at town."

"Why are you trying to help us? Aren't we your enemies?"

"Ahh….not really. Weren't you guys just hired by Gato? And since Gato is gone, there's no point in fighting me if you get no money. So you guys are just free agents now. So, do you want to go to town or not? Of course, you're free to just sit there if you like."

Haku stared at the blonde for a moment longer before kneeling to pick up Zabuza. He slumped the body over his shoulder and began following Naruto. His logic did make sense after all.

"Need help?" Naruto offered. Haku shook his head "No."

"Well then let's get going! Oh wait, Inari isn't here…" Naruto forgot Inari once again. After a moment of intense thinking, Naruto grinned and just returned to walking "Well, he knows how to get back to town. We'll see him soon."

------------------

Inari stood before the slain body of Gato with his fists shaking in fury. After waiting so long, after beating himself up every day for so many years just for this moment. Then to have his prey snatched before him. He couldn't stand it.

He had found Gato's dead body as he took off from the battle scene at the bridge once he saw Naruto had defeated Zabuza. He didn't want to rush off so unexpectedly, but he was eager to find Gato and exact his revenge. But he didn't expect to see the dead body of Gato, with a gaping hole in his chest and one arm ripped off. After so long, the once feared tyrant lay dead like some beggar in the street, his luxurious clothes dirtied and soiled.

He bristled with absolute anger and fury. His teeth clenched and his hand shook the grip of his sword hard. Finally, he let out a loose roar and raised his sword. He began beating down on Gato's body, letting his overflowing emotions into his strikes. He continuously sliced Gato into pieces, not letting up on his furious blows. Within moments, Gato's body was reduced to a pile of flesh, torn to ribbons. Still, Inari refused to let up on his blows.

Soon, Inari's weary muscles cried out for him to stop. His weak and injured body was only held up by his sheer willpower. All his energy had left him, and blood leaked out from his reopened wounds, but he refused to stop. He couldn't stop. His mind, almost in a dreamlike state, could hardly see anything else except for the blood flying out everywhere.

For what seemed to be an eternity, Inari sliced the corpse up into something that people would only recognize as some sort of animal carcass, not what used to be a living human being. Finally, the young boy collapsed as his muscles completely gave up and shut down. For nearly an hour, Inari lay next to the pile of flesh, crushed bone, and blood, breathing deeply as his body finally received the rest it so desperately wanted.

It was over. Everything. His revenge, the only thing he lived for, was now stolen from him. He had worked so hard for it too, but everything seemingly was snatched from him. Inari could only curse his fate, his cursed destiny that forced him to lose everything that kept him going.

He looked up into the sky, resting his arm over his forehead. It was a cloudy grey sky, full of sorrow. Inari lightly chuckled and let his arm drop to his side. It was the same sky that he stood under 3 years ago with his dead father. The skies looked no less dreary or tragic as it had that day than today.

After a moment of blank staring, Inari reached into his pocket and pulled out the scroll that he had found Gato holding. What compelled him to keep the scroll was what sealed it together. The seal of Akatsuki, 9 all-seeing eyes that seemed to pierce into your very soul and make your worst fears true. He slowly unfurled the scroll and read the contents, which was only full of one single cryptic message.

Inari stared at the scroll for a moment before letting his hands drop back to the blood soaked ground.

Inari's face was blank and unreadable as he said to himself.

"I see…."

----------------------Several Hours Later-----------------

Flames erupted from the wrecked building, and a huge pillar of smoke rose into the gray overcast skies. People stood around the house in a circle, each of them carrying torches. After hurling the flames into the burning building, many began cheering and jumping around for joy.

The first thing Naruto did after returning to town battered and weary was to explain that Gato had fled the island with his forces almost completely demolished. Gato never had that much of an army in the first place, usually relying on the powerful Zabuza and his men to maintain fear in the village. Naruto had to do quite a lot of convincing to let the wounded Haku and the near dead Zabuza rest in the only hospital in the whole island. Many hated them, as they were Gato's best men.

Naruto, now worshipped as the hero who defeated Zabuza and overthrew Gato, then rallied up the townspeople with an inspiring speech (involving ramen for some strange reason) to rise up against the last remains of Gato's regime. The townsfolk took up arms, grabbing whatever they found from pitchforks to kitchen knives, and charged Gato's many estates. Without the support of Zabuza's ninjas, the hired thugs were easily overwhelmed.

Now, the house of Gato burned away, as if the flames were melting away Gato's influence forever. People danced merrily around the blaze, shouted raucously and gleefully celebrating their new found freedom.

"It's over…it's finally over…" Tazuna's form slumped to the ground next to Naruto, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. "Thank you, Naruto-kun…thank you…"

"Uh-hum." Naruto cleared his throat with a cough and remarked "Well, since I singlehandedly got rid of Gato though Inari did most of the grunt work, I think some rewards are in order."

"Reward?" the townsfolk turned and glared at the blonde.

"Yes….The thing I want is the number one most important thing in the world, a treasure that cannot be matched. A thing that all men seek after and desire for their lives. An object so precious, so wonderful…" Naruto dramatically declared. The men glanced around in fear, as they knew they stood no chance should the blonde get pissed that the island had nothing to offer to him, besides the treasures they found in Gato's vault. Though they planned to use it to rejuvenate the island's economy and restore life to the people, they knew they could not keep it should the blonde desire the riches.

"Please, Naruto-sama, that treasure is…" one young man begged. The others followed suit.

"Shut up! I get what I deserve for all of this hard work!" Naruto yelled and the people cowered in fear.

"Then…"

"That's right, right now, your town will give me all of it's…."

The tension in the air was immense….

"RAMEN!"

-

Inari dragged himself back to town once he bandaged his wounds. After resting for a few hours, Inari found the strength to stand up and leave. He left the bloodied remains of Gato for the numerous vultures flying in the air, their eyes gleaming at the sight of the meat.

He dragged his sword behind him by the chain he had installed in the sword, leaving it drag behind him quite a distance. His kept his face downward and his eyes hidden. He was at the outskirts of town, which was now abandoned. There was giant bonfire in the town center where the population of Wave had gathered for their celebration of their newfound freedom.

"Those idiots, do they seriously think that they can overthrow a _Shugaki_ without consequence?" Inari bitterly spat "those fools. They're going to die soon."

Inari slowly arrived at the celebrations. There he found the townsfolk eating and drinking to their heart's content, taking what little the island had left. People were dancing around the bonfire and singing. He saw Tsunami and Tazuna glance around anxiously, probably worried about him. He also saw the forms of Haku and Zabuza, bandaged up, laying in the cots in the dirty pavilion which served as the town's only hospital. And there, he saw that annoying blonde sitting with an engorged stomach feeding on bowl after bowl of ramen noodles.

Inari growled dangerously and then spoke up in a loud voice "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The people turned their attention on him. Many squeaked in fear as they saw the boy which many of the town feared. He exhibited an aura of pure annoyance, as he seemingly looked down upon the villager's attics with distaste and disgust. Tazuna and Tsunami looked relieved, while Naruto continued to shovel food down his throat.

"Yo, Inari!" Naruto grinned "Nice of you to join us. Gotta give a celebration for the town's hero, right? Let's have some ramen!"

"What the hell do you think you people are doing, especially you?" Inari glared at Naruto. "Acting like some little kids on their birthday, what's gotten into you?"

One bold man retorted "Shut up, brat! We haven't had reason to party for more than a decade! Don't try to take our fun away because your some kid who's experienced some hardship. We all did you know?"

Tazuna also spoke up "He's right, Inari. This is a day which we should celebrate. Where were you?"

Inari snorted "Celebrate? Oh I'm sorry, congratulations on your freedom…" Inari's words were laced with sarcasm.

"Amen to that!" Naruto yelled in a drunken matter, oblivious to the atmosphere.

"Oh, and to tell you, Gato is dead. He's being eaten by a few birds just 3 miles from the bridge." Inari sneered. Many people looked surprised, while some were disgusted. "So, it's all over now. The good guys win, the bad guys lose and we all live happily ever after."

Some people relaxed at his words, but he suddenly exploded "DON'T FUCKING KID ME!"

"We just got rid of Gato, congrats, but there's a bigger problem to deal with! We took out a _Shugaki_! Do you seriously think that Akatsuki will let this ride? Do you think that they'll just let us free? Do you seriously have time to just laze around here happily and be this merry? You may have won freedom, but we have just forfeited our lives for it!"

The entire center became as silent as the grave. Even the small children and babies had frozen. After what seemed to be an eternity, a man who obviously thought he was smart arrogantly replied.

"So? As long as they don't know Gato is dead, we'll be fine! Only tax collectors come here, so we can just get someone to fake as one of Gato's men, and give them the taxes. Akatsuki wouldn't care or know the difference at all! Wave country's really important anyways."

Inari laughed at that "Gato may not be a shinobi nor has a strong army, but he was still a _Shugaki_, one of Akatsuki's administrators. It won't work. Plus, you seriously overlooked one thing. I was not the one who killed him."

There were loud audible gasps of surprise from the people. Whispers ran through the crowd. Some people were stunned, as everyone knew Inari's vendetta.

"As much as it sucks to admit it, I didn't kill Gato. No, the chance was taken away from me."

"Then who killed him?"

"See for yourself."

Inari pulled out a scroll and lightly tossed it to the people. They caught it and gingerly opened it. The people read it. Once they finished, their eyes widened in horror and their bodies shook.

"N-no way…."

"That's…That's the seal of Akatsuki….and the symbol of the _Shugaki_." The man pointed out the 9 eyed symbol with dragons sprouting from each eye representing Akatsuki and the kanji character written in blood red representing the _Shugaki_

Some people screamed, some fainted, while some fell to the ground in a daze, their minds unresponsive due to the shock.

"Hmmm?" Let me see." Naruto finally stopped eating ramen and grabbed the scroll. He read it with a confused expression on his face. The scroll only had one phrase.

"_Akatsuki_ _no Shita, Akatsukiyami wa Agaru."_ Naruto read aloud. People cringed as they heard the phrase. Underneath those words was the kanji for the words _Hokuto_ or the Northern Star. "What's this mean?"

People froze, as if no one wanted to explain to him. After a long moment of silence, Inari spoke "_Underneath the Red Moon, a moonless dawn will rise."_ Inari intoned "that is the message Akatsuki sends to each town before an Akatsuki member comes to visit that place."

"Visit? Like an inspection?" Naruto curiously asked. It was not unheard of for an Akatsuki to visit a various area for inspections. Though it was rare, it did happen on rare occasions once an Akatsuki got bored or something.

"No,they only send that when Akatsuki personally annihilates a town." Inari said his face serious. "In other words, one of the Akatsuki will come to destroy us personally."

It was a thing that all people feared. Akatsuki members who got bored or bloodthirsty or simply just wanted to kill would send that letter with the phrase written in it to whatever place they want destroyed. Within some time, that place would have vanished off the face of the world forever. Normally, most of Akatsuki's forces would just destroy the town and let the people go. But if an Akatsuki decided to annihilate someone, they left no one alive. Not even a corpse would be left, as the Akatsuki would thoroughly eliminate everything. The letter was merely a formality, a technicality that would allow people time to flee in order to quell dissent from the people. But usually, by the time people finished the letter, Akatsuki would've already attacked.

"W-we're going to die…" people muttered. Soon there was a panic as people started running around, panicking and scrambling to find a way out of town. Inari stood with his eyes closed as Tsunami and Tazuna tried to make him move, but he stood like a rock. Soon, the once cheery town center was devoid of all people except for the silent Inari and Naruto, who hid his expression by looking down and allowing his bangs to cover his head.

"Aren't you going to run?" Inari asked in a dead voice.

"Nah." Naruto calmly said.

"Heh, well, it's useless to try anyway. We're already doomed." Inari said. Then there was silence between the two. For a blissful moment, all was peaceful. Then, the explosion came.

-

The explosion rumbled the earth, causing many of the fleeing people to fall down. Tremors violently shook the earth and fire with smoke rose into the air. Ashes were sent everywhere, leaving little bright orange sparks hanging in the air. The fleeing people stood aghast, staring at the horrible scene of destruction before them.

The bridge, the only method of entry and exit from the island had been blown up. Completely. It was incinerated. Metal rods were melted into sloppy globs, while some stood out like twisted spikes, ready to impale whatever poor thing should land on it. Concrete fell into the waters below and melted cables soon followed. The entire bridge had been destroyed.

A desperate man threw himself into the water, intending on swimming back to the mainland. A mistake, as the water suddenly changed itself in the form of a _Suiryuudan_ and swallowed the man, drowning him within its depths.

"No way… we can't get out!" one woman panicked. On the distant bank, shadowy figures could be seen, preparing a jutsu should someone else try to swim across the river. The coast was full of shinobi, preparing to kill any who could cross the waters.

It was then that Tazuna knew, they were doomed.

-

Naruto sat, and for the first time, chose not to touch the ramen sitting before him Inari sat across from him, along with Haku. Zabuza laid on the cot placed next to the table the 4 were gathered around.

"So, what do we do now?" Naruto spoke, breaking the icy tension.

"There's nothing we can do. Akatsuki will come, whether it be today or one week from today. First, they'll surround us and starve us out. Then they'll come in and kill us all, men and women, old and young." Zabuza spoke in a gruff tone, trying to avoid looking at anyone. Zabuza, who onced worked for an Akatsuki official was quite knowledgeable on the matter.

"Then, why don't we work together here? We might all survive then." Naruto cheerfully said, grinning widely.

"Shut up. Why the hell would I work with you?" Both Inari and Zabuza said angrily. Haku didn't say anything but glared at Naruto.

"Well, think about it. You guys don't work for Gato anymore, so you have no reason to fight us."

"True, but we have no reason to fight with you either."

"If you fight with us, you guys might be able to live."

Zabuza pondered over it for a while. Haku gave him a nod to signify that he had no issues with it at all. Plus, the blonde's words were true. There was no apparent downside and no reason for them to not work together. After all, if the boy could beat him, he would be a great asset to escape, or even a diversion if things got too hot. At last, Zabuza sighed and said.

"Fine. I'll help you guys get off, but that's it."

"Excellent! Then we should devise a plan to get off the island." Naruto looked pleased "Any plans?"

"First, the only time for us to escape would be the exact moment Akatsuki decides to annihilate Wave, so we could slip out during the confusion. So we just wait until they attack and sneak out. Inari-kun you…" Haku spoke up this time but was quickly interrupted.

"I'm not doing anything. Who said I'm part of your group? I'm sorry to say, but I don't really want to work with you guys. I fight alone." Inari declared and stood up to leave. Holding his sheath at his side, Inari calmly walked away from the group with his eyes partially closed.

Naruto called after him "Hey! Didn't we just fight together? You sure you don't want to work together?"

Inari, without looking back, responded "No, we didn't. I fought my guy and lost, and you fought your guy and won. That's it. We didn't work together to win, we just fought our own separate opponents. And to answer your second question, I don't need your help so no, I don't want to work together… There's no reason for me to fight with you guys."

Silence ensued after Inari left. The 3 sat around, staring at each other. Zabuza summed up all of their thoughts in one statement. "What the hell is his problem?"

Naruto shrugged "He's always like that. Don't worry about that."

Haku interrupted him and finished off the explanation of his plan.

Little did they know, just outside of the island, 20 hooded figures had arrived at the bridge. 20 figures with a kanji character written in blood red on their backs. The _Shugaki_

------

"Kakuzu-sama, we have arrived." The leader of the group of _Shugaki_ bowed before the Akatsuki member, averting his eyes to stare at the edge of the man's black cloak.

"Report, Saito." Kakuzu emotionlessly replied. He locked his glowing eyes on the man and the bowing _Shugaki_ behind him. They all looked slightly scared and very tense, as if Kakuzu was ready to pounce and kill any of them at any moment. And they knew they could not resist either.

But at any rate, they were safe for now. Kakuzu was extremely impulsive, and at the very moment he felt a need to kill, he would kill anyone from little children or babies to old fragile people to his men or even his comrades. He had even killed some of his fellow Akatsuki members, just at a whim. However, at this moment, Kakuzu felt no need to kill.

"Sir, we have completely surrounded the island. Boats prevent them from leaving, and the bridge is completely destroyed. No one will be able to escape. Give us the word, and we shall obliterate this town." The man seemed to bow lower, and for the first time, an eager edge could be heard in his words.

"No." Kakuzu simply said. The man looked up quizzically. "I don't feel like killing anyone right now. Rather, you realize that Wave is poor and suffering greatly? There has been a recent drought, and they completely rely on a daily supply drop."

The man nodded his response.

"Then we will wait. For one week, we'll make them suffer and starve." Kakuzu evilly smirked and grinned in a bloodthirsty manner. That grin sent chills running down the nearby shinobi's spines "In one week, we will strike. And by then, they will beg for me to end their pitiful lives."

--------- One Week Later--------

It was the waiting that Zabuza could not stand. As a shinobi, he had been taught patience. Patience in a hot situation was essential to the survival of any shinobi. hotheadedness or impatience or even too much anticipation could lead to the downfall of any shinobi, especially in a hostile situation with no understanding of what could happen.

But all of the shinobi basics were forgotten in the face of an Akatsuki.

Every day, people waited for the inevitable death. Some took the time to build up some sort of defence, but their great resolve quickly crumbled as the island received no supplies or imports. Without food, many had lost their will to live in the oncoming fear of Akatsuki. The overwhelming tension could be seen everywhere, on the streets, on the faces of people, in the very air.

It was what drove Zabuza crazy. It was as if every second of the day was spent in waiting. Waiting for the impending doom brought upon them.

Of course, there was one person who wasn't scared at all.

Uzumaki Naruto proudly walked the streets, smiling as if there wasn't a care in the world. He cheerfully made small talk with people, his ever present grin sticking out in a crowd of endless frowns. He ate the sparse food left on the island without restraint, and acted as if nothing could ever happen. Sometimes, Zabuza wondered whether the boy was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.

Of course, he shared this sentiment with half of the town's populations.

Currently, Zabuza and Haku were lazing around outside, calmly relaxing. The townspeople, though reassured by Naruto, distrusted the two greatly as they were Gato's former men. Naruto himself was off somewhere, chatting with some of the townsfolk. Inari…well, no one had really seen him except for Tsunami, Tazuna, and occasionally Naruto would whenever he ate at Tazuna's home.

"Maaa….today sucks again…." Zabuza commented. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining, but Zabuza always hated that type of weather. It didn't suit him, the Demon of the Mist. "When the hell will Akatsuki get here already? I'm fucking tired of waiting."

"But Zabuza-sama, if Akatsuki should attack, we will most likely die."

"Heh, I couldn't care less. If they want a fight, I'll give them one. But they're just keeping us here like some animal in a cage. That just pisses me off." Zabuza growled. Haku didn't even twitch. For the last week, the pair had usually been lazing around. They ignored Naruto's suggestion that they train. Plus, the blonde didn't even bother to train as well. Their conversations were always the same. Zabuza loudly complained about something that pissed him off such as waiting to die, Naruto, weak shinobi, Naruto, weak _Shugaki_ like Gato, kids with blonde hair who likes to eat ramen, living a normal peaceful life, Naruto and some other stuff. Haku of course, remained silent and would only offer a few words every now and then.

It was a normal day, annoying and boring as usual. It drove Zabuza insane. It was like the calm before the storm. Little did he know, the storm was coming.

----

Dressed in long black cloaks, the _20 Shugaki_ patrolled the coasts, making sure no one attempted to escape the island by water. Small boats patrolled the waterand various instruments were scattered around the area.

Each of the _Shugaki _were elite shinobi, high level jounin with the exception of Gato, who was simply a cruel businessman. They were waiting for the creator of their organization and their leader to arrive.

Their leader arrived so silently, that not even the most elite shinobi noticed despite it being broad daylight. "Are the preparations ready?" The gruff voice of Kakuzu sounded. Immediately, the shinobi jumped up in shock and started bowing down.

"K-Kakuzu-sama. We are ready! Give us the signal and we will…" The man was interrupted by Kakuzu.

"Shut up. Just say you are ready. I'm not in the mood to listen to your mindless chatter."

"Y-yes, Kakuzu-sama!"

"Now then, here is what you will do. When I give the word, you will attack the town and kill everyone. Start by surrounding the town, and then work your way through. After that, sweep through the island and kill any survivors. Be sure to look for any hidden shelters." Kakuzu calmly said and turned to leave.

"Kakuzu-sama, what will you be doing?" the _Shugaki_ leader quickly asked.

The _Shugaki_ commander ignored his question and formed a hand seal. To the surprise of everyone, hundreds of threads shot from his sleeves. The numerous threads bound themselves together and fixed a connection between the destroyed bridges, and formed a new bridge of sticky black threads.

"Commence attack."

-----

Explosions rocketed the island. Debris was strewn about the ground, and fire torched the earth. People panicked and screamed, all of them attempting to flee for their lives. A few found hiding spots, but it was useless. Black clad shinobi rushed through the island and the town, slaughtering and cutting down person after person. It was so sudden, so hidden, that even the most prepared civilians were caught in the confusion.

The shinobi had stealthily sneaked into key positions around the town, dropping powerful explosives along the way. In unison, they set off the explosions. In the confusion following the blasts, the shinobi sprang from hiding, slicing any people they saw. They burst into homes, and cut up anyone they saw before blowing up the building completely.

In the confusion, Zabuza and Haku sneaked past the lines of shinobi, who were busy killing people left and right. They quickly ran toward the bridge, where they knew Naruto, the rest of Zabuza's squad, and whatever townsfolk they could find would be waiting.

Suddenly, one of the twenty attackers appeared and blocked the way. Zabuza, without hesitating or stopping, jumped forward and launched a punch. The ninja jumped back and avoided the hit. Since his sword was destroyed by Naruto, Zabuza had no choice but to resort to taijutsu.

"Heh, things are getting interesting now. I'll take him, Haku." Zabuza grinned. Haku nodded.

The masked shinobi said in an arrogant voice "Hmph, are you sure you even have a chance to beat me without the aid of your partner?"

"Oh I'm sure!" Zabuza roared and charged forward, sending a flying sidekick. The _Shugaki_ sidestepped the swing and aimed a kick at Zabuza's exposed opening.

The moment the kick came in contact, Zabuza's body turned into water. It was a water clone. The shugaki didn't even seem surprised. He spun on his feet, hurling a few shuriken as he finished his spin. The shuriken sliced through a nearby bush, where Zabuza hastily leapt out of as the shuriken cut down Zabuza's hiding place to shreds.

"_Katon, Hosenka no Jutsu_!"

Forming a long string of handseals, Zabuza's opponent sent several balls of fire at Zabuza, who started running to avoid the blasts. He ran in a giant circle around his enemy, as fireballs blew up within feet of him.

"_Katon, Karyu Endan!"_

Yet another string of handseals. This time, the _Shugaki_ exhaled a incredibly long hot stream of fire similar to a flamethrower. The stream followed the movements of his head as he directed his gaze towards Zabuza.

Acting quickly, Zabuza jumped toward a nearby pond, the smooth surface disturbed as Zabuza's chakra-filled feet supported him on the water. He formed a handseal.

"_Suiton, Suijinheki!"_

An enormous barrier of water formed from the water in the pond and surrounded Zabuza. The stream of fire came into contact with the barrier and immediately sizzled into steam. Zabuza's barrier, after some time, fell back into the pond from where it came.

"Not bad." The _Shugaki_ said from behind his dark mask. "But it won't be enough to beat me I'm afraid."

Zabuza grinned and laughed sinisterly "Haha! Not enough? I've already beat you!"

"What?" The _Shugaki _muttered, his eyes darting around looking for anything he could've missed. He glared angrily at Zabuza "What do you mean?"

The swordsman laughed and said "Your feet."

The shinobi looked downward and saw both of his feet encased in a giant block of ice. "Impossible! When?"

Haku stepped out, with his hunter-nin mask down over his face. With the emotionless mask, eerily haunting, Haku's gaze penetrated deeply into the other shinobi's gaze.

Zabuza laughed once more "Haku can form ice so well, that you won't even be able to feel it. You were doomed from the very start."

"You..." the _Shugaki _growled "You said for him to step back. This was a fight between us. You cheated."

"Cheated? You were stupid enough to fall for my deception. It was not cheating." Zabuza gave a hollow laugh as the bloodthirstiness in his voice deepened "We are shinobi! This is how we fight! The one who lets down his guard is the one who will lose their head!"

Zabuza charged forward and swung his kunai. The sick sound of metal slicing through flesh echoed through the air as the head of the _Shugaki_ fell to the ground with a thump. The body soon toppled to the ground as well, once Haku got rid of his ice.

"Heh, that was fun." Zabuza carelessly tossed away his bloodied weapon. "Let's go, Haku."

With a silent nod, the two were off again, dashing as fast as they could toward the coast closest to the mainland. Another Akatuki official down...

----

Naruto was in deep trouble. He knew it. It had started when the attack started. Instead of fleeing like he had planned, his first priority was to help the townsfolk escape. He and several shadow clones had led as many as he could through series of underground tunnels, which he had built in the last week by using thousands and thousands of shadow clones while no one noticed. He knew Akatsuki would find them, which was why he depended on his second plan; escaping the island and attracting the attention of his pursuers. If they found out that someone had escaped the annihilation, than he knew Akatsuki would focus their efforts of pursuing him, rather than making sure they finished the job.

Hopefully, he would manage to run a giant loop around his pursuers and go back to Wave Country and eliminate any enemies there before they did a body count and notice that there was a large majority of supposed corpses missing. Then, he would lead them to a hiding place he knew of. If he was somehow killed before he could reach them...well he hoped Inari would be able to protect them.

So that was how he was surrounded by 4 _Shugaki_, all of them bearing various weapons. Naruto knew he couldn't just take them on. There was no time for that. He knew he had to go all out and get rid of them as fast as possible.

Naruto took a deep breathe and closed his eyes as if in meditation. He lifted up his gauntlet-covered right arm. Using his left arm, he unclasped the gauntlet...

-

Naruto quickly left behind the smoldering corpses that was left of the 4 elite shinobi. The attack that he launched had greatly exhausted his chakra and cut it by at least a quarter. But it was necessary if he wanted to get off the island in time. As the sounds of destruction raged on in the background, Naruto dashed toward the coast where he and Zabuza were supposed to rendezvous.

Luckily, he managed to avoid any more of Akatsuki's men.

After several long minutes of solid running, he finally reached his destination, slightly out of breath. Zabuza and Haku were already there. They were waiting impatiently. Zabuza glared at Naruto dangerously.

"You're late.

"Ah sorry! I kinda ran into a little trouble..." Naruto sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his head with his hand. They were currently at the burned remains of the old bridge connecting the mainland to Wave country.

"Whatever, lets hurry the hell up and get out of here before it's too late." Zabuza nodded toward Haku.

Forming a chakra-gathering hand seal, Haku took a deep breath and reached deeply into his chakra stores. It was essential that Haku conserve his chakra as they made their escape from the town, as his ability to create ice was the very thing that could get them out of this island.

Haku molded his chakra and slowly, the moisture in the air slowly gathered into a sphere of water. Suddenly, the sphere of water transformed into ice, which molded itself into the shape of a bridge, connecting the the twisted remains of the old bridge toward the other wreckage on the main island. As soon as the bridge was formed, Haku fell to his knees, breathing deeply as his chakra was depleted by half.

"Sorry, but we don't have time to rest." Naruto said and helped Haku onto his feet. The trio then leaped onto the bridge of ice, quickly dashing across the slippery ice using chakra to increase traction on their feet.

As soon as they reached the other side, the ice bridge collapsed into giant chunks of ice as Haku's chakra gave up on holding it together. It fell into the water with a giant splash.

"Now let's hurry before they catch on." Zabuza gruffly said and looked around. The coast was clear. The three started to move...

"Where do you think you're going?"

A deadly pressure, beyond anything any of the trio ever experienced pushed down on their heads. Terrifying killer intent drenched the air and made it nearly impossible to breathe. Anything living nearby froze in place, just from sheer fear emanating from within. It was a feel whatever presence beyond any of them. It was the presence of a tremendous killer, who slaughtered thousands and thousands without remorse or hesitation.

Zabuza and Haku, their eyes widened and body shaking in fear slowly turned their necks to see the source of the voice. Naruto stood frozen, as if he knew who was behind him without even having to look. Only a few ninja could exhibit such a cruel aura of horror.

Standing behind them was the 6th member of Akatsuki and the official Treasurer of Akatsuki, Kakuzu.

He was wearing the dreadful Akatsuki cloak, of blood-red clouds over pure blackness. His head was covered with white cloth while he wore a face mask covering his nose and mouth. He had a pair of strange glowing green eyes, which seemed to strike fear in the heart of anyone who dared to look upon the eyes. Even with the mask covering his face, one had to just stand in his presence to feel Kakuzu's sheer aggressiveness, and his desire to spill blood, his need to bring despair upon others.

"Answer my question, where do you think you're going." Kakuzu said quietly and deadly. He looked relaxed wearing his long black cloak and his masked face betrayed no emotion whatsoever. He seemed to curiously observe the three who managed to slip past his men. They said nothing as a feeling of complete fear engulfed them.

"Very well. If you wish to die that quickly." He raised his hand bearing the ring with the kanji for north to shoulder height. Suddenly, the hand shot out, propelled by hundreds of black threads.

"Move!" Naruto shouted as he jumped out of the way. Zabuza jumped too, but Haku was completely frozen in place. With his chakra exhausted from creating the bridge, he couldn't help but get caught frozen in the deadly glare of Kakuzu's glowing eyes. Kakuzu's fingers wrapped around the boys neck...

"Come on, snap out of it!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Haku and pulled him out of Kakuzu's grip before his fingers could tighten and snap Haku's neck. Haku seemed to snap out of it, and he regained control of his body as he looked around in confusion.

"Hmph." Kakuzu retracted his hand, which reattached itself to his arm without leaving even a small line.

"What do you want from us?" Naruto angrily hissed.

"I just wish to see who was the one who removed Gato from power, that is all." Kakuzu simply stated, his unblinking gaze never flinching. "That is why I used some members of my Shugaki to attack, even though I could perfectly well kill everyone on this island; it was to test their strength."

"Well, you could say that I'm the one who got rid of Gato." Naruto arrogantly said, despite the slight feeling of nervousness gripping his mind.

"I see...well I'll make an offer to you. Take Gato's position as a _Shugaki_ and I'll let you live and even work for me." Kakuzu said, raising his ring-bearing finger. "It is too troublesome for me to find someone else to take the position. Besides, I was planning on...replacing Gato anyway."

"That's a good offer." Naruto said, pretending to think it over "but I'll have to refuse. You see, I despise Akatsuki and I'd rather die than work for you." It took nearly all of Naruto's willpower to say that while looking into Kakuzu's eyes, with his face defiant as ever.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't push it, kid. I'm offering you a chance to live."

"Well I say that you take your job offer and go to hell with it." Naruto fearlessly said, though adrenaline pumped through his mind and he readied for another attack. Zabuza and Haku exchanged glances and then readied to run at a moment's notice, clearly nervous.

"Fine then. If that's your answer..." Kakuzu glared at him and raised his arm to shoulder height "Then there is no reason for you to live."

Black threads shout out of his sleeve and rocketed toward Naruto, who jumped up into the air and avoided them. The razor-like strings bore tiny holes in the ground. If he was hit, Naruto was sure those threads would pierce his body as if it was nothing.

Hundreds of the dark threads shot from Kakuzu's sleeves. Naruto jumped from place to place, avoiding a painful death with every movement he made. Haku and Zabuza tried to flee the area but then encountered several of Kakuzu's _Shugaki._

"You're not going anywhere." The leader of the 6-man squad stood before Zabuza. The elite jounin glared at the fellow jounins.

"As if I'd listen to weaklings like you!" Haku and Zabuza charged forward, and soon the battle was on.

-

Naruto carefully scanned the area for any unknown threats. Kakuzu stood before him, relaxed and calm. He seemed to be enjoying to toy with his prey. Naruto stared at him and then reached his hand back into his shuriken holster, pulled out 3 shuriken and hurled it with great speed and accuracy.

Kakuzu moved his arm and effortlessly caught the 3 out of the air as if they were just toy balls that little kids played with. The 3 shuriken rotated on 3 of his fingers as he twirled them around.

"Not bad. That was a good throw for someone of your age, but..." Kakuzu suddenly disappeared from the spot.

Naruto gasped and whirled on the spot, searching for his enemy. "Where did he go?"

"You're sorely mistaken if you think this attack could possible affect me in anyway." Kakuzu's voice came from behind Naruto, making the hair on the back of his neck stand. Naruto's eyes widened and he spun around, bringing out a sharpened kunai and slashed at the spot where he heard Kakuzu's voice. No one was there. Naruto slightly relaxed.

Suddenly, a powerful elbow thrust came in contact with the backside of Naruto's head. The immense force behind it sent waves of unimaginable pain through Naruto's body, as well as sending him rocketing through the air at speeds no human body should reach. The sheer power behind the blow was amazing, and would've killed any lesser or normal shinobi or civilian instantly, and would've at least permanently injured even the strongest jounin. But, Naruto was no normal shinobi.

He crashed into the forest of trees nearby, reducing numerous trees into splinters as his momentum finally stopped. His body was covered in numerous bruises, deep cuts, and lots of his own blood. He gasped for air. Naruto supposed it was due to his inner tenant that kept him alive and conscious. Otherwise, he would've died or been knocked unconscious.

As shock waves of pain echoed through his body, he fell to the ground. Almost instantly, he felt his wounds closing and healing. The enormous bleeding hole at the spot where the blow struck had healed over quickly as if there had been no injury. _Must be its power...it works almost seven times as fast when I'm near death_ Naruto thought as pain started to leave his body.

He slowly stood up as he felt less pain. Eventually, his body was completely healed, leaving nothing but smudges of dirt and exhaustion. Kakuzu observed him with a very calculating gaze. He was deeply serious, as his glowing eyes stared at him in deep concentration.

_What kind of healing ability is that? That should have at least knocked him out . This kid...is not normal...he may not even be human... that was certainly no ability any human could possess._ Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he prepared the three shuriken that Naruto had thrown at him. _I must see the extent of this power. _

Kakuzu lazily swung his right arm, and three shuriken hurled at Naruto at lightning speeds. 3 deadly blurs whistled through the air and Naruto barely dodged them by diving to his right. Kakuzu was beyond most normal shinobi or human with his superhuman strength. The sheer momentum of the shuriken tore through surrounding foliage as if it was paper.

Thousands of black threads shot from the long sleeves of Kakuzu's Akatsuki cloak. Naruto dodged again and again, barely keeping up with the thousands of attacks that Kakuzu shot at him. Naruto grabbed a small smoke bomb and tossed it to the ground, temporarily hiding him from his enemy.

"Why delay the inevitable? Why bother to even dodge my attacks?" Kakuzu's deep bloodthirsty voice echoed throughout the area "Surely, you know you stand no chance against me. Stop struggling against the inevitable and accept a quick death from me."

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Naruto said through the dense smoke, completely ignoring whatever Kakuzu just said. After an instant, the smoke cleared away to reveal Naruto behind a group of 3 shadow clones, which stood protectively in front of him.

"Useless!" Kakuzu's razor sharp thick threads pierced through the first clone, and two more shot towards the other two.

Naruto quickly leaped onto the backs of his two clones and crouched, gathering as much strength to his legs as to spring him for his next movement. The two threads stabbed straight through the clones on the way to the back, dispersing the shadow clones.

Suddenly, twin explosions rocketed the earth, and Naruto used all of his gathered strength and chakra in his legs to launch himself high in the air in the same instant as the explosions. The force and shock wave from the twin explosions blasted him straight through the air – right at Kakuzu.

What Kakuzu hadn't seen were two exploding tags attached to the backs of Naruto's shadow clones. Just as the threads pierced their backs, the tags triggered, blowing all of the surrounding area to hell as well as blasting Naruto forward toward Kakuzu. Naruto had realized that he had no chance in far-range combat, but couldn't get close enough to Kakuzu to engage in close-range battle. Therefore, he had to devise a way to make Kakuzu's attacks to propel him forward instead of having Naruto just charging forward into a wave of sharp spikes.

_He put himself in danger with those explosions...just to get at me! What kind of idiot would do that?_ Kakuzu thought as he got into a battle-ready stance. As Naruto rocketed toward him, he sent a few more threads at him. At this high velocity, there was no way for Naruto to dodge the threads.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Naruto shouted and two clones formed behind him. Both grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up, completely avoiding the deadly threads. Using the last of the chakra, the two clones hurled him forward and disappeared in clouds of smoke.

_Clever maneuver, using clones to help him move through air._ Kakuzu mused as Naruto landed on the ground and dashed toward him. _He's not bad for someone of his age. Too bad for him that I have to kill him now._

-

_This is my only chance to kill him. If I miss or mess up, I'll be dead. This attack will end it all._ Naruto started molding his chakra – all of it. He couldn't spare a drop for this next jutsu. He had never mastered it, due to the erratic behavior of his modified chakra which made chakra manipulation a pain in the ass. Despite this, his modified chakra made this incomplete jutsu powerful beyond any. Even if it wasn't complete, the sheer raw power of this attack would be more than enough to kill the Akatsuki member.

_Focus...Remember, spin the chakra and sync it with your arm... concentrate. I can't mess up now... I only have one shot._ If Naruto missed, he would die for certain. Even if he hit his target, the sheer blow back from this attack could inflict a severe injury.

Naruto roared and yanked off the gauntlet from his right arm, unsheathing the enormous amount of chakra surrounding his arm. Slightly weaker than usual from his earlier use on the _Shugaki_, the bright blue chakra was still powerful with intense energy. But there was something even more different.

Gathered in the palm of his energy emanating hand was a small swirling sphere of bright blue chakra. It was an amazing orb of chakra, swirling rapidly like the destructive force of a hurricane gathered within one small orb of energy. It was beautiful in a deadly sort of way; something about it seemed dangerous.

Naruto roared with all the volume he could muster. Squeezing out every last bit of air, he shouted out his determination to the skies.

"HERE WE GO! TAKE THIS!"

"_BAKUSAI RASENGAN!"_

Two enormous chakras mixed into one jutsu. Two ultimate destructive attacks became one. And the power of hurricane and the power of a thousand cannons all gathered into Naruto's right arm, which was now burning such an intense blue that anyone who looked at it directly would be blinded. Two jutsus with chakra perfectly synced as if it was only one jutsu. It was truly an awesome sight to behold.

Kakuzu's eyes widened as he recognized one of the two jutsus now mixed into one. _It can't be! How could that brat...know that move! I cannot let him live with such knowledge!_ For the first time in the whole battle, Kakuzu was scared. He felt a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. He was faced with a destructive power that even he could hardly stand against.

_That technique... its powerful but its only effective if I let him hit me!_ Kakuzu quickly thought and attempted to move out of the way from Naruto's attack. He may be able to retreat and then strike once more once Naruto's jutsu would eventually fade away as it drained the rest of the chakra from Naruto's reserves.

But suddenly he felt 4 arms gripping his. Panic shot through him as he turned around and saw two shadow clones. He momentarily wondered where they came from, but then quickly received the answer. Naruto had formed 4 shadow clones in the smoke bomb, not just two. And then they either henge'd or snuck around Kakuzu while he was distracted by Naruto's sudden charge.

Time seemed to slow as Kakuzu's reflexed kicked in. He had to get out of the hold that the clones had on him and avoid the attack. But how? He certainly couldn't let it hit; he doubted even he could withstand a direct blow from such a tremendous attack. But from what he could tell from the chakra patterns, Naruto would not be able to stand the attack as well and would receive enormous damage as well.

_There's only one way to break out of this hold. There's no helping it. Jeez, for this kid to make me use my special moves..._ Kakuzu closed his eyes, covering the glowing green pupils. Moments before Naruto's attack would hit him, his Akatsuki cloak was torn to shreds...

-

A chakra explosion beyond anything anyone had ever witnessed tore up the horizon. A wave of pure destruction exploded outwards and engulfed anything within its enormous radius. The air crackled with the heat and power from the astonishing dome of bright light. All around the island, people could see a sudden burst of blinding blue light. It was at least 10 times more stronger than the chakra blast he unleashed on Zabuza days earlier.

Slowly, the after effects of the double jutsu diminished and faded away, leaving nothing but a giant ball of cloud and an enormous crater, spanning several meters in all directions. Large cracks scarred the earth like a thousand gashes cut across the earth as if a giant had unleashed an endless barrage of cuts.

Standing on the edges of one of the giant craters was a battered, torn up and exhausted Naruto. His clothes were more dirtied than ever, and were more rags than actual articles of clothing. He was breathing deeply and gasping for air as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Numerous bruises, cuts and burns scored Naruto's skin. In the aftermath of his attack, the once brilliant blue chakra covering his right arm had disappeared, revealing the secret that ran from his elbow to the tips of his fingers underneath the gauntlet and bright blue chakra glow. It was covered in thousands of tiny gray monster-like scales, and shone unnaturally in the harsh glare of the sun. Blue veins popped out of the skin and ran throughout the arm, with far too many than any human arm should have.

His palm was completely charred black and steaming. Red cracks ran through large patches of burnt skin and gave it a lava-like appearance. The immense chakra behind his jutsu was so tremendous, that it had actually burnt his skin.

His healing ability had yet to kick in. Naruto struggled to keep standing. For once, he seemed to have lost his tireless energy. _Shit...that one hurt me a lot...if it wasn't for the Kyuubi's protection, that jutsu would've taken me with him. The Rasengan is powerful, but if you haven't mastered it, its far too dangerous to use. At least there's no possible way he could survive that...He has to be dead._

"I win!" Naruto shouted and laughed despite his weariness "It's over..."

"Yes, its' over." A ominous voice from directly behind him. "Die now."

Naruto's eyes widened, but even if he was fully rested and several times faster, he still would never have been fast enough to avoid the spike composed of sickly black threads that pierced the center of his back right through his heart.

Darkness took Naruto's eyes and he felt death beginning to claim his mind. Slowly, his eyes saw nothing more than the approaching darkness...

A/N

First of all, I want to apologize for the delay. No, I'm not dead, it's just that I was so busy lately that I had no time to write. My summer was hectic. This chapter is not really proofread either, so I'm sorry for any mistakes or if its not well written. It's just that I rushed to put this chapter out, because I probably won't have much time to write later. So my apologies. But at least its much longer than usual.

As for that technique Naruto used on Kakuzu, that was a mix between Rasengan and his Chakra blast. I'll explain everything in a later chapter, so don't hate me if it seems to random.

I also apologize for my Japanese. I sucks at it, so bear with me if I made any mistakes.

Oh here's some info on the last few techniques.

Chakra Blast - One of Naruto's abilities. His right arm is covered with chakra which is sealed by the gauntlet he wears. He can use this chakra to add explosive power to punches, or send a giant beam of chakra at his enemy. This ability will be covered in-depth in a later chapter.

_Bakusui Rasengan - _Blasting Rasengan, one of Naruto's original techniques. He combines the rasengan with his chakra blast, which he swirls in a direction similar to his rasengan, and does enormous amount of damage, though its very dangerous to Naruto. It's more powerful than Oodama Rasengan, but far below Fuuton Rasengan or Rasenshuriken. Naruto has yet to master the Rasengan, which will be explored next chapter, which is why this technique is so unstable.

Thanks for reading and sorry once again for the long wait/bad chapter. I hoped you enjoy it, and leave a review on your way out.


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